Peter Shepherd: Auckland University molecular medicine professor on research confirming Ozempic reduces risk of strokes and heart attacks

New research has confirmed Ozempic reduces the risk of strokes and heart attacks by 20 percent - even in patients who weren't severely overweight to start with. 

The study, which was led by University College London and published in The Lancet, found that weight loss accounted for only one third of this reduction.

Auckland University molecular medicine professor Peter Shepherd says this is proof other factors are behind the slowdown of heart disease.

"We know a few of them, we know a bit about how it effects heart tissue growth, we know a bit about the positive effects it has on the deposition of the lipids, but there's still a long way to go to fully understand its effects." 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
As if ozempic could not be any more of a
miracle drug, turns out there's more to it. It has now
been found to reduce the risk of strokes and heart
attacks by twenty percent and this is even in patients
who are not severely overweight to start with. This comes
from a study by the University College Auckland and is
prompted a London rather and is prompting suggestions that the
drug should not be restricted to only obese people. Peter

(00:22):
Shepherd is a molecular medicine professor at Auckland University and
an expert in diabetes and obesity and with us Hi
Peter Hi Heather, this is something of a wonder drug,
isn't it.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
It's a pretty good one. Ozeenpic and semi glutide, which
is the active ingredient, is doing amazing things.

Speaker 1 (00:37):
Okay, now, how do you explain this that it drops
this risk back in people who are not fat to
the eye.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
Well, ozembic does, or semi glutide does a whole range
of things in our body apart from just controlling weight.
And we know that because it was originally developed as
a diabetes drug, and so even before it was showing
weight loss effects. It was controlling diabetes. So the effect
on the heart disease are partly through weight loss, but
there's clearly some other things happening that are slowing down

(01:09):
the rate of various aspects of heart disease. Do we
know what those other things are, Well, we know a
few of them, and we know a bit about how
it affects heart tissue growth. We know a bit about
some of the positive effects it has on the deposition
of lipids, but there's still a long way to go
to fully understand its effects, and more research will be needed.

Speaker 1 (01:29):
How is this working so well for us as humans?
Is it replacing something that we do not have enough
of in our bodies?

Speaker 2 (01:35):
Yeah, exactly. So. All it is is a hormone that's
been engineered to last longer in the body. Normally, in
our body, this hormon called GLP one gets broken down
really quickly by our body. And what we've done, or
what the drug companies have done here is make it
hang around longer and work longer and replace the effects

(01:56):
of that hormone in our body.

Speaker 1 (01:58):
So with regards to loss, you only lose the weight
as long as you're taking the drug and the minute
that you stop taking the drug, the research shows you
start to put it back on again, and within a
couple of years you back to where you were beforehand.
Is the same true of all these other risks.

Speaker 2 (02:11):
We actually don't know whether there will be a reversal
of the beneficial effects on cardiovascular disease and on a
kidney disease. No doubt they'll persist for quite a while,
but whether they are fully been reversed, we just don't
know yet. More time will tell.

Speaker 1 (02:27):
Peter, I love the sound of this, but I am
reluctant to get myself too enthusiastic because it sounds like
it's a hideous thing to take.

Speaker 2 (02:34):
What do you think, Well, it's not too bad, I
mean compared to a lot of the consequences that you
would otherwise have for most people. There are some people
who have side effects with it and go off and
won't take it any longer. But there are others who
really don't. So it depends, you know. I think when
the future, what we're going to find is that this

(02:54):
will benefit some people more than others. There'll be some people,
for whatever reason, whether it's their genetics or whatever about
that respond well to the drug. And it will be
useful for them and others who don't. I mean, we
know in the obesity side that some people respond incredibly
well to ozempic and others respond virtually not at all.
So I would take it. I probably need to take

(03:17):
it really.

Speaker 1 (03:18):
Okay, So I had a baby in January, and I
wouldn't mind shreading for summer. Do you reckon? I should?
Shall I start now and then see how I look
on Christmas Day?

Speaker 2 (03:28):
I think you should discuss that with your own GP.
I can't write your prescription right on.

Speaker 1 (03:33):
The point now, but if you were my mate Sam,
we were just having a beer in the back garden,
what would you say.

Speaker 2 (03:39):
I would say that that it's a good drug that
does many good things and for people who who will
truly benefit from it, it is a good way to go.
And I think in the future we're going to see
a lot wider use of this drug, especially as the
price comes down and things like you know, our government
system can afford afford this are We're going to see
much wider roll out of this type of drug.

Speaker 1 (04:00):
So, yeah, Peter, thank you. Hope that helps you absolutely
it does, thank you. I'm just going to say, Peter
said it's fine. Peter Sheppard, molecular medicine professor at University
of Auckland.

Speaker 2 (04:12):
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