The NHS in England has given the green light to prescribing the weight loss drug Wegovy to more people to reduce the risks of serious health conditions such as strokes and heart attacks.
Already available on the NHS for some people to help them with obesity, Wegovy will now be available to people who are overweight and deemed to be at risk of the conditions due to four health factors.
The drug is a GLP-1 agonist like Mounjaro and Ozempic, and it has the same active ingredient as Ozempic: semaglutide.
It works by increasing the body's feeling of fullness and reducing appetite, while also promoting insulin release and lowering blood sugar.
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Wegovy comes in the form of a weekly injection, and the dosage is gradually increased as the body becomes accustomed to it.
According to Asda Online Doctor, on average people will lose 21 percent of their body weight after 72 weeks on Wegovy.
Previously, to get an NHS prescription for Wegovy, you had to have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 35 or over, which would classify you as obese according to the health body.
You also needed to be suffering from a weight-related health condition such as cardiovascular disease or high blood pressure.
Now, people with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 27 or above - which falls within the upper end of the overweight category - can be prescribed Wegovy.
This is provided they've had a heart attack, stroke or suffer from circulation problems in their legs, according to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice).
They've approved the weight loss drug to reduce these people's risk of a major cardiovascular event, and NHS England reckons an estimated 1.2 million people could be impacted by the change.
'A genuine win–win'
Naveed Sattar, professor of cardiometabolic medicine at the University of Glasgow, welcomed the change and spoke of how it could help patients.
“We now have medicines that not only reduce heart attacks, strokes, and peripheral arterial disease, but also simultaneously lead to meaningful weight loss – which in turn lowers the risk of many weight-related conditions," he said.
"These treatments also improve patients’ quality of life in a meaningful way, making this a genuine win–win.
"Given that so many people living with cardiovascular disease also struggle with excess weight, it’s no longer sufficient to focus solely on lipids and blood pressure.
"We must also address weight directly if we want to deliver the best possible outcomes for our patients.
"This new guidance on semaglutide enables exactly that, and represents another major turning point in the battle against obesity."
A weekly injection of Wegovy would be offered as an additional treatment to accompany the medications people were already taking for cardiovascular disease like statins.
What are the side effects of Wegovy?
According to the drug's official website, common side effects may include:
- Nausea
- Diarrhea
- Vomiting
- Constipation
- Stomach (abdomen) pain
- Headache
- Tiredness (fatigue)
- Upset stomach
- Dizziness
- Feeling bloated
- Belching
- Low blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes
- Gas
- Stomach flu
- Heartburn
- Runny nose or sore throat
Research from The Lancet indicated that semaglutide injections appeared to reduce the risk of a heart attack or a stroke no matter how much weight the person taking it lost..
Cardiology Professor Robert Storey of the University of Sheffield said any rollout of weight loss drugs for other purposes 'needs to be appropriately targeted' since they can reduce the muscle mass of the patient.
He explained that people on the jabs were losing fat and muscle, and so patients would ideally be on an exercise regime to make sure they didn't lose too much muscle mass, which he said 'may not be feasible in frail people'.
Joe Harker