Mounjaro could reduce heart attack risks for diabetes patients, study says

A new study suggests giving Mounjaro to type 2 diabetes patients could reduce the risk of heart attacks in people also living with heart disease.

Those receiving the drug were found to be 33% less likely to suffer a heart attack when compared to patients on another type 2 diabetes medication.

Mounjaro, a GLP-1 receptor agonist also known as tirzepatide, is currently used on the NHS to treat both type 2 diabetes and severe obesity.

The US study, published in The BMJ, involved almost 53,000 people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Researchers meticulously tracked major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) – which includes heart attacks, strokes, and death from any cause – comparing outcomes for those starting Mounjaro with patients on sitagliptin, another common diabetes drug.

After a year, the risk of Mace was 2.9% among those on Mounjaro compared to 4.4% in the sitagliptin group.

Researchers estimate that this is the equivalent of preventing one case per every 70 people.

Mounjaro slashed the risk of heart attacks by a third, although there was no meaningful difference found in cases of stroke.

However, Mounjaro did lower cases of hospital admissions due to infections, the analysis found.

One hospital admission was prevented for every 48 patients, according to researchers.

It also prevented one death from any cause for every 122 patients.

Researchers said: “This study shows how trial-anchored evidence from clinical practice can estimate the expected cardiovascular benefit of initiating tirzepatide beyond standard background treatment and inform shared decision making.”

A study released last month claimed that weight loss drugs were linked to hair loss.

People on GLP-1 agonist drugs such as Mounjaro, Ozempic and Wegovy reported hair loss to regulators – and July’s study on around 50,000 people appeared to support the link.

Experts used data to compare rates of alopecia hair loss in adults using GLP-1s to manage diabetes with those on other drugs.

The team from the University of Pennsylvania Health System noted that regulators in the US have been informed of the link between the drugs and hair loss, particularly for semaglutide (Wegovy and Ozempic) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro).

So far in 2026, the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has received 399 reports of hair loss relating to tirzepatide, alongside 541 last year.

It has also received 148 reports of hair loss linked to semaglutide, alongside 164 reports last year.

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