Researchers at WashU and WashU Medicine have found that GLP-1 medications including semaglutide and tirzepatide were associated with significantly lower risks of heart attack, heart failure and death among adults with serious mental illness, type 2 diabetes and obesity.
Led by senior authors Victor G. Dávila-Román, MD, a professor in the Cardiovascular Division in the John T. Milliken Department of Medicine at WashU Medicine, and Leopoldo J. Cabasa, PhD, a professor and co-director of the Center for Mental Health Services Research at WashU Brown School, the research team analyzed records from more than 218,000 adults with serious mental illness across 73 health care organizations. They found that patients using GLP-1 medications had lower rates of heart attack, heart failure and all-cause mortality after one year and three years than did similar patients who were not taking the drugs. The strongest benefits were observed among users of semaglutide (marketed under the brand names Wegovy and Ozempic) and tirzepatide (marketed under the brand names Zepbound and Mounjaro).
People living with serious mental illness face substantially higher rates of cardiovascular disease and often experience reduced life expectancy because of cardiometabolic complications. The findings were published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Read more from the Cardiovascular Division.