Nearly 90% of cardiologists report prescribing GLP-1s to patients to reduce cardiovascular risk, a Nov. 6 Medscape report found.
“Medscape Issues in Cardiology Report 2026: Balancing Medical Advances and Practice Demands” surveyed 152 cardiologists between March 3 and April 16. The survey asked about the top challenges cardiologists face, how their practices are evolving and which approaches to delivering care they are gravitating toward. It also asked about the impact of GLP-1s in their practice and the patients receiving the medications.
Here are the top reasons cardiologists prescribe GLP-1s and the patient profiles they prescribe them to most.
Reasons for prescribing
- Reduce cardiovascular risk: 89%
- Treat chronic sleep apnea: 48%
- Slow progression of chronic kidney disease: 32%
- Improve liver health: 18%
- Alleviate osteoporosis symptoms: 8%
- Aid in substance use disorder and mental health treatment: 6%
- Other: 2%
Patient profiles
- Patients with heart disease, obesity and Type 2 diabetes: 76%
- Patients with obesity, Type 2 diabetes and high heart disease risk: 75%
- Patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, obesity and Type 2 diabetes: 68%
- Patients with heart disease and obesity: 62%
- Patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and obesity: 58%
- Patients with obesity and high heart disease risk: 54%
- Other: 2%
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