The more we learn about obesity, the more precise the relationship between obesity and various heart diseases, including heart attack, heart failure, hypertension, and atrial fibrillation. Obesity is also driving the epidemic of diabetes that we are seeing not just in the United States but worldwide. As a consequence of obesity-related diabetes, we now see more and more patients needing kidney dialysis and amputations. We are learning from a recently completed clinical trial that the National Heart Institute helped lead weight loss in patients with heart and vascular disease and obesity using the easy-to-administer weekly injection of semaglutide does prevent cardiovascular death, heart attack, and stroke.
Only recently have we appreciated that obesity is a chronic disease that needs a well-thought-out treatment strategy. We also understand that so many factors, ranging from genetic to environmental, play a role in the development of obesity. In most patients, asking obese patients to lose at least 10% of their weight or, in many cases, 20-40 pounds with lifestyle recommendations, including exercise and diet, are doomed to fail. However, the availability of new treatments, especially the Glucagon Like Peptide Receptor Agonists like semaglutide (WygovyÒ OzempicÒ) and tirzepatide (MonjouroÒ), have been able to provide sustained and significant weight loss in the 20% range (which would be 50 pounds in someone weighing 250 pounds). And now, the National Heart Institute is looking into new treatments that we hope are even more effective and safer.
One ongoing clinical trial at the National Heart Institute is evaluating a single injection containing two medications that we hope leads to the level of weight loss seen with weight loss surgery in patients who have suffered a heart attack or stroke in the past or who have significant blockages in the arteries to their legs causing calf pain with activity that can reduce the risk of another heart attack, stroke or leg amputation. Another trial is the evaluation of a new treatment called a mitochondrial uncoupler that leads to weight loss without dieting or additional exercise in patients who have been diagnosed with heart failure or who have signs and symptoms of heart failure such as shortness of breath or fatigue with exercise or swelling of the ankles and legs.
At the National Heart Institute, we are committed to finding new, safer, more effective treatments that provide patients a “two-for-one benefit,” significant and sustained weight loss, AND reducing their risk of heart disease. NHI clinical trials are free, no insurance is required, and you may be compensated for your time and participation.
There is no better time to contact the National Heart Institute if you or a family member or friend have obesity and heart disease. Our team is here to help. info@nationalheartinstitute.org
