This diabetes drug could help obese people lose 20% of body weight

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Scientists from Yale School of Medicine found that people with obesity treated with a novel GIP/GLP-1 receptor agonist, tirzepatide, lost about 52 pounds on average.

They reported that strong weight reduction can be attained with tirzepatide.

The research is published in the New England Journal of Medicine and was conducted by Ania Jastreboff et al.

In the study, the team examined the efficacy and safety of tirzepatide.

They tested 2,539 people with obesity who were assigned to receive placebo, tirzepatide 5 mg, tirzepatide 10mg, or tirzepatide 15 mg for 72 weeks.

The people on average had a body mass index (BMI) 38 kg/mand on average weighed 231 lbs.

At the end of the study, about 90% of individuals with obesity lost weight.

The team found those taking the 15 mg dose of tirzepatide had an average body weight reduction of 22.5%.

Treatment with all three doses of tirzepatide resulted in substantial and sustained weight loss. Side effects were mainly in the gut, and included nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

These results are an important step forward in potentially expanding effective treatment for people with obesity.

The team says obesity should be treated like any other chronic disease – with effective and safe approaches that target underlying disease mechanisms; these results underscore that tirzepatide may be doing just that.

Currently, tirzepatide is not FDA-approved as an anti-obesity medication for the treatment of obesity.

Tirzepatide was FDA-approved for the treatment of type 2 diabetes in May 2022 and is now commercially available for that use.

The drug trial’s sponsor, Eli Lilly, is working with the FDA on a timeline for the approval of tirzepatide as a treatment for obesity.

If you care about weight loss, please read studies about how to lose weight through exercise, and this weight loss surgery may lower heart disease risk.

For more information about healthy weight, please see recent studies about this obesity drug can help both younger and older people lose weight, and results showing this drug can help achieve weight loss, but exercise is the key

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