Some diabetes drugs like liraglutide, semaglutide, and dulaglutide may help protect the heart and lower the chance of serious heart problems in people with type 2 diabetes who already have heart disease — and this benefit might not just be because they lower blood sugar.

Diabetes drugs like semaglutide and liraglutide cut heart attacks, strokes, and kidney failure by up to a third — and they work fast, even before blood sugar drops, likely by calming down harmful inflammation in the body.

Losing just 1 kilogram (about 2.2 pounds) of body weight while taking GLP-1 diabetes drugs is linked to a 7% lower chance of having a heart attack, stroke, or dying from heart disease.

GLP-1 diabetes drugs that lower blood sugar and weight the most tend to offer the biggest protection against heart attacks and strokes in people with type 2 diabetes.

GLP-1 diabetes drugs help prevent heart attacks and strokes mainly by lowering blood sugar and helping people lose weight—not by lowering blood pressure or bad cholesterol.

For people with type 2 diabetes, lowering their blood pressure or bad cholesterol with GLP-1 drugs doesn't seem to make a noticeable difference in their risk of heart attack or stroke.