GLP-1 drugs and surgery linked to fewer heart deaths; lifestyle overhauls were not
Across 31 reviews, GLP-1 drugs, bariatric surgery, certain diets and exercise were each linked to lower cardiovascular risk or mortality. Comprehensive lifestyle programmes, the everything-at-once approach, showed no significant cardiovascular benefit.
For you: Worth knowing that exercise, diet, surgery and GLP-1 drugs each showed benefit on their own here, while bundled lifestyle overhauls did not; more components did not mean more protection.
What it shows: Broad and mostly credible: a sweep of 31 published reviews, with the strongest evidence behind GLP-1 drugs in people with type 2 diabetes or excess weight. Much of the rest was rated moderate or low certainty, so the null for lifestyle programmes may reflect weak studies rather than no effect.Systematic review · Int J Obes (Lond)