Mounjaro and Heart Health: How Mounjaro Can Help If You Have Cardiovascular Disease

You’ve probably heard a lot about an injectable medication for Type 2 diabetes and weight loss, called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonists. Besides improving blood sugar control and helping with weight loss, several of these medications have been found to support heart health.

Mounjaro (tirzepatide) is an injectable medication that combines a GLP-1 agonist with a glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP). It’s FDA-approved to treat Type 2 diabetes, but is Mounjaro good for your heart? 

Let’s examine the evidence for Mounjaro’s heart health benefits.

What is Mounjaro?

Mounjaro is a once-weekly injectable medication used to improve blood sugar control in people with Type 2 diabetes. 

When you eat, your gut releases GIP and GLP-1 hormones. Mounjaro mimics these hormones and binds to GIP and GLP-1 receptors in your gut and brain to:

• Increase insulin production

• Decrease how much sugar your liver makes

• Slow the movement of food through your stomach

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These effects help lower blood sugar levels and support weight management. 

Can Mounjaro support heart health?

Yes, numerous studies show that Mounjaro can affect your cardiovascular system. Let’s look at how Mounjaro may improve heart health. 

Reducing symptoms of heart failure

A recent study looked at the effect of tirzepatide in people with a specific type of heart failure called heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), who were also considered overweight or obese. In this group, tirzepatide significantly reduced:

• Urgent visits for heart failure

• Hospitalizations

• The need for more diuretics

• Deaths due to heart failure 

Researchers also found that people on tirzepatide had:

• Improved ability to exercise 

• Less shortness of breath and fatigue

• Reduced signs of inflammation

• Weight loss

• Lower rates of death from all causes

Lowering blood pressure

High blood pressure contributes to heart disease. Lowering blood pressure is another way Mounjaro may improve heart health. 

EXPERT PICKS: WHAT TO READ NEXT

• What it feels like: Three people share their experiences with Mounjaro, a medication that can benefit many people living with Type 2 diabetes.

• How it works: Mounjaro mimics two gut hormones to help balance blood glucose levels. Read about how Mounjaro works.

• Compare options: Mounjaro is one of several medications that work like the hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1). Read more about available GLP-1 agonists here.

A recent study found that people taking tirzepatide had significant reductions in blood pressure after starting the medication. After 36 weeks of tirzepatide use, systolic blood pressure decreased by up to 10 mmHg, while diastolic blood pressure had smaller improvements. Some of these benefits may be due to the weight loss associated with tirzepatide. 

Improving cholesterol

Mounjaro may also help reduce cholesterol levels. High cholesterol leads to fatty deposits inside blood vessels, increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke. 

A review of studies on tirzepatide’s impact on cholesterol found it decreased total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or “bad” cholesterol, and triglycerides. It also increased high-density lipoprotein (HDL) or “good” cholesterol.

Improving blood sugar

Having diabetes increases your risk of heart disease. This is because high blood sugar damages blood vessels — including the coronary arteries, which supply oxygen to your heart. It can also damage the nerves that control the heart and change the heart’s structure. By reducing blood sugar, tirzepatide helps protect your heart health. 

Do other GLP-1 agonists support heart and cardiovascular health?

Yes, other GLP-1 agonists can benefit your cardiovascular system.

In fact, the FDA has approved the GLP-1 agonist Wegovy to reduce the risk of death, heart attack, and stroke in people with cardiovascular disease who are also considered overweight or obese but don’t have diabetes. Wegovy is the first weight-loss medication to receive this approval. 

A study examining Wegovy’s effect on heart health followed 17,000 people over almost 40 months. Compared to those who took a placebo, people who took a weekly 2.4 mg injection of Wegovy had less risk of cardiovascular death, nonfatal heart attack, and nonfatal stroke. Like Mounjaro, Wegovy has also been shown to help people with HFpEF.

In 2020, the FDA approved another GLP-1 agonist, Ozempic, to prevent major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in people with Type 2 diabetes and known heart disease. A study on the effects of weekly semaglutide showed that the risk of MACE was reduced by 26%.

Other GLP-1 agonists shown to reduce the risk of MACE in people with heart disease include Trulicity (dulaglutide) and Victoza (liraglutide). 

Why trust our experts?

Written by:

Brian Clista, MD

Dr. Clista is a board-certified pediatrician who works in private practice in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He previously served as a National Health Service Corporation Scholar in the inner city of Pittsburgh for 11 years.

Edited by:

Patricia Pinto-Garcia, MD, MPH

Patricia Pinto-Garcia, MD, MPH, is a medical editor at GoodRx. She is a licensed, board-certified pediatrician with more than a decade of experience in academic medicine.

Reviewed by:

Christine Giordano, MD

Christine Giordano, MD, is board-certified in general internal medicine. She received her medical degree from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and completed residency at Thomas Jefferson University.

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