Can Wegovy or Ozempic be used for heart failure?
Can Wegovy or Ozempic (semaglutide) be used for heart failure?
Yes, Wegovy and Ozempic active ingredient semaglutide has been used for heart failure to improve heart failure symptoms, increase exercise function, and weight loss, in a clinical trial called STEP-HFpE (NCT04788511). The clinical trial used Wegovy and Ozempic’s active ingredient, semaglutide, in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and obesity compared to placebo treatment, over 52 weeks.
The goal of treating heart failure is to slow disease progression (hospitalization and death) and to improve patients' quality of life including their symptoms and ability to move or exercise.
Benefits of Wegovy and Ozempic for heart failure patients with obesity
- Improved heart failure symptoms, physical limitations, and quality of life (semaglutide +16.6, placebo +8.7) measured using KCCQ-CSS*
- Increase in distance walked over 6 minutes (semaglutide +21.5 meters, placebo +1.2 meters)
- Weight loss (-13% semaglutide, -2.6% placebo)
*The Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire Clinical Summary Score (KCCQ-CSS) assesses symptoms of heart failure, physical and social limitations, and overall quality of life. Scores range from 0 to 100, where higher scores indicate fewer symptoms and reduced physical limitations.
Wegovy and Ozempic (semaglutide) are currently not FDA approved for heart failure.
Heart failure with obesity
Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is a type of heart failure where the heart maintains a normal or near-normal ejection fraction (LVEF is ≥50%). This type of heart failure is a condition that often occurs in individuals who have higher body weights. Patients with this type of heart failure and obesity have more clinical problems, greater symptoms, and impaired quality of life compared to patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction but no obesity.
By reducing body weight in obese HFpEF patients helps to reduce symptoms as HFpEF patients with lower body weight have less symptoms.
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How does Wegovy and Ozempic improve heart failure?
Wegovy and Ozempic improves heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) in obese patients by aiding weight loss. Semaglutide is a glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) agonist that works by mimicking a natural hormone in the body called GLP-1 which:
- Helps control appetite and food intake
- Stimulates insulin production from the pancreas
- Reduces liver sugar production
- Slows down digestion.
Summary
- The active ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic (semaglutide) has successfully been used to treat heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) in obese patients, in the clinical trial STEP-HFpE. Semaglutide improved heart failure symptoms, increased exercise function, and helped weight loss.
- Wegovy and Ozempic are not currently FDA approved to treat heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) in obese patients.
References
Semaglutide in Patients with Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction and Obesity. Accessed January 22, 2025. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2306963
Wegovy Package Insert FDA. Accessed January 22, 2025. https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2024/215256s015lbl.pdf
Ozempic Package Insert FDA. Accessed January 22, 2025. https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2024/209637s032lbl.pdf
National Library of Medicine Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. Accessed January 22, 2025. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6334030/#S0001
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