By Alice Klein.
Tirzepatide is designed to mimic the hormone GLP-1.
MOLEKUUL/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY is located in Alamy.
A large clinical trial showed that people with Obesity lost 24 kilograms on average when they were treated with the highest dose of a new drug.
It's really exciting. Michael Cowley, who was not involved in the research, says that the weight loss they are showing is as much as you can get with successful bariatric surgery.
Our guts naturally release after we eat to make us feel full, and that's why the drug, called Tirzepatide, combines synthetic mimics of two hormones.
In a late-stage clinical trial, over 2500 people in nine countries were asked to give themselves weekly injections of the drug for 72 weeks without knowing which one they were taking.
The most effective dose of the drug was the one that resulted in 24 kilograms of weight loss on average. Participants taking the placebo lost 2 kilograms on average. The results were announced by Lilly on April 28.
Semaglutide was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in June of 2021. According to Cowley, the added GIP component in Tirzepatide gives an extra boost to weight loss.
The side effects of semaglutide can get worse at higher levels, so it's important to be aware of this.
According to Joseph Proietto of the University of Melbourne, the experience with semaglutide has shown that starting patients on low doses and gradually increasing them can avoid these side effects.
The downside of surgery is that you can never have a normal meal again, says Proietto.
Once surgery is done, the drawbacks of semaglutide are that they have to be administered on an ongoing basis.
It's a discussion between an individual and their physician about which option is right for them, but it's great that there's another option out there.
Lilly will continue to monitor participants who began the clinical trial with pre-diabetes for another 104 weeks to see if the drug can be used to prevent type 2 diabetes.
You can get the health, diet and fitness news you need every Saturday with our free Health Check newsletter.
There are more on these topics.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
