The Heart Foundation has cautiously backed semaglutide and tirzepatide as options for patients with obesity and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, in its first consensus statement on weight management and CVD.

Published on Monday, the statement targets what it calls the umbrella “cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic” syndrome, and guides ways of treating obesity and cardiovascular disease as linked chronic conditions.

“What we’re doing at the Heart Foundation is going broader, making sure we’re not just looking at these problems piece by piece, but all of the things that more obesity is associated with,” says Professor Garry Jennings, the foundation’s chief medical officer.

The foundation says sufficient evidence now shows semaglutide and tirzepatide improve functional capacity and symptoms in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and obesity, even if research is inconclusive on the impact on hospitalisations and deaths.