HEARTSTOPPER
Millions more Brits could get weight-loss jabs on NHS to prevent heart attack and stroke – are you eligible?
From ‘curing’ snoring to slashing your risk of cancer – all the other surprising ways weight loss jabs can boost your health
THE 'miracle' weight-loss jab has been given the green light to be used to to prevent heart attacks and strokes in overweight people.
Semaglutide, sold under the brand name Wegovy, has already been approved for weight management in people with obesity.
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Now, the medicines watchdog has approved the drug for a new purpose - to slash the risk of heart problems in people who are overweight or obese.
It is the first weight-loss drug approved in the UK as a preventative treatment for those with "established cardiovascular disease", the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said.
The drug will be available to those who have a body mass index (BMI) score of at least 27 and who already have a form of heart disease.
Nearly eight million Brits have heart disease and all of those who are overweight – about half, or four million people in the UK – could benefit from the jabs.
Read more on fat jabs
The medicine makes people feel fuller and less hungry.
It is prescribed for the treatment of obesity for weight management alongside diet, physical activity and behavioural support.
The approval comes after a new study found that the drug - taken as an injection once a week for up to five years - can lower a person's risk of major cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke.
Some 17,600 people took part in the trial and were either prescribed Wegovy or a dummy drug, also known as a placebo.
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Researchers found that Wegovy, which is manufactured by Novo Nordisk, significantly reduced the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events by 20 per cent.
The MHRA approval is a step towards the drug being used in the NHS.
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Before it is used on a widespread basis in the health service it still needs to be appraised by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice).
Shirley Hopper, MHRA's deputy director of innovative medicines, said: "We're assured that the appropriate regulatory standards of safety, quality and effectiveness for the approval of this medicine have been met.
"This treatment option that prevents heart disease and strokes is an important step forward in tackling the serious health consequences of obesity.
"As with all medicines, we will keep its safety under close review."
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Commenting on the announcement, Professor Bryan Williams, chief scientific and medical officer at the British Heart Foundation, said: "Nearly two-thirds of adults in England are living with excess weight or obesity.
"Those that also have an established cardiovascular disease live with a very high risk that a serious event like a heart attack or stroke could happen.
"Several recent studies have shown us that semaglutide is an effective tool that can improve the quality of life for those with cardiovascular disease, including by lowering the risk of serious cardiac events.
"It is important that people using the drug to lose weight and improve their health are given the support they need from healthcare professionals to maintain these improvements long into the future.
"This means appropriate training and healthcare workforce development, along with policies to create a wider environment that supports everyone to stay as healthy as possible.
"Altogether, this can help save lives from the devastating impact of heart attacks and strokes."
The jabs work by suppressing your appetite.
To do this, semaglutide mimics the role of a natural hormone, called GLP-1.
GLP-1 is part of the signalling pathway that tells your body you have eaten, and prepares it to use the energy that comes from your food.
All the surprising ways weight loss jabs can boost your health
IT'S impossible to escape the hype around weight loss jabs.
Most recently, scientists said the medicines could be the cancer hope of the future, and after early studies suggested they could reduce the risk of tumours, for example.
Here are all the other benefits scientists are claiming the jabs might have:
It could slash the risk of cancer...
Fat jabs could be the cancer hope of the future after early studies found they reduce the risk of tumours growing.
The world’s top experts are preparing for a research boom to find out if the wonder drugs can head off the most feared disease.
Research by Case Western Reserve University in Ohio found obese people were 19 per cent less likely to get cancer if they used the injections than people who did not.
It might cure snoring...
Researchers say the fat-blasting jabs can silence snoring by treating an underlying health condition called sleep apnoea.
It happens when your breathing stops and starts while you are asleep, causing people to gasp, snore and wake up spluttering during the night.
Around 10 million Brits are thought to have it, according to the Sleep Apnoea Trust.
Being overweight or obese can increase a person's risk of the condition by narrowing the airways.
After conducting two studies on adults with obesity and sleep apnoea, drug maker Eli Lilly claimed its fat jab Mounjaro could cut down the number of times people had breathing issues during the night.
After 52 weeks, those given 10 to 15 mg injections of Mounjaro, on average, experienced almost 30 fewer dangerous breathing events per hour, amounting to a 55 per cent drop.
By contrast, participants taking a placebo medication only had 4.8 fewer events, a five per cent reduction.
It may ward off Alzheimer's..
Medications like Ozempic and Wegovy could affect cognitive disorders and even ward off Alzheimer's.
The thought stems from a Danish study that followed people with type 2 diabetes for five years.
The scientists found those on weight loss jabs were less likely to develop dementia compared to those not on the drug.
However, obesity - which is associated with type 2 diabetes - is already known to increase the risk of Alzheimer's, according to the Alzheimer's Society.
This suggests it could just be the slimming effects that give it benefits against the disease.
It could boost your fertility…
Some women have reportedly become pregnant unexpectedly after taking semaglutide jabs.
This has led to some doctors in the US prescribing the medicine to treat polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), one of the leading causes of infertility in women.
Many people with the condition are overweight and found to have higher levels of testosterone, which is usually thought of as a 'male hormone'.
Researchers reckon weight loss drugs could help regulate hormones in people with PCOS and so reduce symptoms and complications.
It might help people give up drugs, cigarettes or booze…
As it turns out, weight loss jabs can crush drug cravings in the same way they stop the urge to eat.
The jabs are known to promote feelings of fullness and, it seems, dampen the reward associated not only with food but also drugs.
A Penn University study found liraglutide was as good as a fortnight in rehab for people addicted to painkillers.
Tests on 20 people recovering from opioid addictions revealed patients who took the jabs once a day rated cravings 40 per cent lower than those having rehab.
While some patients experienced no cravings at all.
It can reduce your chance of heart attack or stroke…
The skinny jab could also cut your risk of a heart attack, according to researchers.
Being a healthy weight can slash your risk of developing heart and circulatory diseases like strokes and vascular dementia.
That's because carrying excess weight can lead to fatty substances building up in your arteries, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) warns.
If an artery's job is to carry blood to the heart get clogged, it can trigger a heart attack.
And if the same thing happens in an artery carrying blood to the brain, this can cause a stroke.
So, perhaps it is hardly surprising that injections that can help you lose weight might also reduce your risk of cardiovascular problems.
It might be able to slow down Parkinson's…
For decades there have been few advancements in the battle against Parkinson's.
But French researchers reported the first glimmer of hope - a modest slowing of the disease in a one-year study among people who used the weight-loss jabs.
Parkinson's is a devastating nervous system disorder affecting 10 million people worldwide, with no current cure.
Symptoms include tremors, slowness and stiffness, and difficulty with balance.
That can lead to difficulty walking, talking and swallowing. Many patients develop dementia.
The paper, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, involved 156 people with early Parkinson’s disease who were randomly assigned to take the drug — lixisenatide -or a placebo and followed for a year.
During that time, Parkinson’s symptoms like tremor, stiffness, slowness and balance worsened in those taking the placebo but not in those taking the drug.
The effect was "modest" according to the researchers.
INCREASE IN DEMAND
Earlier this year, Novo Nordisk warned over supply constraints as it said it was seeing strong demand for its obesity treatments around the world.
In the UK, NHS medics say increasing numbers of people are visiting A&E due to serious side effects of weight loss injections like Ozempic.
In a statement responding to the new MHRA approval, the Danish company said: "This additional indication for Wegovy provides a treatment option to reduce cardiovascular risk in people with established cardiovascular disease living with overweight or obesity in Great Britain.
"Despite therapeutic advances in cardiovascular disease management, a significant ongoing need persists for treatment options that can address cardiovascular diseases in people living with overweight or obesity.
"Novo Nordisk intends to continue its discussions with health authorities to provide accessibility for those with the highest ongoing need.
"Novo Nordisk continues to provide a protected supply of Wegovy to the NHS with supply readily available.
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"Non-NHS supply will continue to remain constrained and limited for the foreseeable future."
Last year, the Government warned that fake fat jabs were being imported into the UK.
Everything you need to know about fat jabs
Weight loss jabs are a hot media topic at the moment, with hundreds of success stories from people who shed the pounds.
In March 2023, the NHS announced it would make Wegovy, a drug made by Danish firm Novo Nordisk, available on prescription to thousands of obese Brits.
It contains the drug semaglutide, which is said to have helped reality star Kim Kardashian and Twitter boss Elon Musk lose weight.
Wegovy, which helped a third of people reduce their weight by 20 per cent in trials, is now available from pharmacies like Boots.
How do they work?
The jabs work by suppressing your appetite, making you eat less and therefore lose weight.
To do this, semaglutide mimics the role of a natural hormone, called GLP-1.
GLP-1 is part of the signalling pathway that tells your body you have eaten, and prepares it to use the energy that comes from your food.
London GP and founder of wellgoodwellbeing.com, Dr Zoe Watson, said: “Your body naturally produces an appetite regulating hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1.
“These jabs work by regulating your appetite, which can lead to eating fewer calories and losing weight.”
Aren’t they diabetes drugs?
Semaglutide, the active drug in Wegovy, was originally sold under the name Ozempic specifically for diabetes patients.
But people started noticing it helped suppress their appetites, stopping them eating as much and helping them shed the pounds.
Novo Nordisk then developed Wegovy, which contains the same chemical but at higher doses specifically to aid weight loss.
Wegovy is not prescribed for diabetes patients.
Can I get them?
Wegovy is offered on prescription to obese adults given specialist weight loss treatment.
The NHS currently also offers a similar drug called Saxenda, or liraglutide.
Both are only available on Tier 3 and Tier 4 weight management services, which means you have to be referred to weight management clinics led by experts.
GPs can’t prescribe them on their own either, Dr Watson said.
The jabs have to be taken as part of an overall programme to help with lifestyle changes and psychological support to get the best effect from the medication prescribed.
Despite being approved for use, supply of Wegovy on the NHS has been postponed indefinitely because of a surge in worldwide demand.
Supply was also halved in the US because of the skyrocketing demand.
Are there any risks?
Like all medicines, the jabs do not come without side effects.
Around half of people taking the drug experience gut issues, including sickness, bloating, acid reflux, constipation and diarrhoea.
Dr Sarah Jarvis, GP and clinical consultant at patient.info, said: “One of the more uncommon side effects is severe acute pancreatitis, which is extremely painful and happens to one in 500 people.”
Other uncommon side effects include altered taste, kidney problems, allergic reactions, thyroid tumours, gallbladder problems and hypoglycemia.
What other options are there?
Mounjaro (brand name for tirzepatide) also came onto the market in early 2024.
Like Wegovy, tirzepatide stems from a drug originally designed to treat diabetes.
The weekly injection helped overweight people drop more than two stone in 18 months.
It is available with to order with a prescription online from pharmacies including Superdrug and LloydsPharmacy Online Doctor.
It works in a similar way to Wegovy and Saxenda, but is more effective.
Dr Mitra Dutt from LloydsPharmacy says: “Based on clinical trials, 96 per cent of people were able to lose more than five per cent of their body fat using Mounjaro. In similar trials, 84 per cent of people lost more than five per cent of their body weight on Wegovy, and 60 per cent on Saxenda.
“Mounjaro works by activating two hormonal receptors (GIP and GLP-1), which enhance insulin production, improve insulin sensitivity, and work to decrease food intake."