“You don't have to lose a lot of weight and you don't need a high BMI to gain cardiovascular benefit. If your aim is to reduce cardiovascular disease, restricting its use to a limited time only and for those with the highest BMIs doesn't make sense,” said lead author of the study, Professor John Deanfield from University College London’s Institute of Cardiovascular Science, in a press release.
For the study, researchers analyzed data from over 17,000 patients aged 45 or older who were overweight and had cardiovascular disease. Participants were randomized to receive either weekly semaglutide injections or a placebo.
Ultimately, the researchers found that reductions in cardiovascular risk were independent of starting body weight and weight loss. Those considered to be 'slightly overweight' with a BMI of 27 experienced similar cardiovascular effects to those with higher BMI's and obesity.
The researchers noted that a reduced waist circumference could explain around 33% of the cardiovascular benefits after two years of treatment with semaglutide.
"Abdominal fat is more dangerous for our cardiovascular health than overall weight and therefore it is not surprising to see a link between reduction in waist size and cardiovascular benefit. However, this still leaves two thirds of the heart benefits of semaglutide unexplained,” said Deanfield.
The findings build upon previous research, which found that semaglutide lowers risk of heart attack, stroke, and other major cardiac events by 20%.
A limitation of the study is that most participants were male and white. The researchers thus recommend future research on GLP-1 receptor agonists include more diverse demographics to understand how applicable these findings may be for other groups.
Sources: Science Daily, The Lancet