A new research review presented at a major diabetes conference in Europe has found that a drug called Tirzepatide works better than another popular drug, Semaglutide, when it comes to lowering blood sugar and helping people lose weight.
The results were shared at the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes and could help doctors choose better treatments for people with Type 2 diabetes.
The study was led by Dr. Thomas Karagiannis and his team at Aristotle University in Greece. They looked at data from 22 clinical trials that included nearly 18,500 people with Type 2 diabetes.
These trials were carefully designed and are considered high-quality studies. The researchers compared how well Tirzepatide and Semaglutide worked in real patients and also looked at the side effects.
Type 2 diabetes is a common health problem that happens when the body cannot use insulin properly. This leads to high blood sugar levels, which can cause serious health issues over time. People with Type 2 diabetes often need medication to manage their blood sugar.
Some of these drugs also help with weight loss, which is important because many people with this condition are overweight or obese.
Both Tirzepatide and Semaglutide are already approved for treating Type 2 diabetes. Semaglutide is also approved for weight loss, and Tirzepatide is being considered for the same. These drugs work by mimicking hormones in the body that help control appetite and blood sugar levels.
The research team found that Tirzepatide helped people lower their average blood sugar more than Semaglutide. Blood sugar control was measured using a test called HbA1c, which shows the average level of sugar in the blood over a few months.
People who took the highest dose of Tirzepatide (15 mg) had an average drop in HbA1c of 2.00%, while those on Semaglutide (2.0 mg) had a smaller drop of 1.62%.
Tirzepatide also helped people lose more weight. The group taking 15 mg of Tirzepatide lost about 5.7 kilograms more than those taking Semaglutide. This is a big difference and suggests that Tirzepatide may be a better choice for people who want to manage both blood sugar and weight.
However, the study also looked at side effects. Both drugs can cause stomach problems like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. The highest dose of Tirzepatide caused these issues more often than lower doses or Semaglutide. In some cases, people taking 15 mg of Tirzepatide were more likely to feel sick compared to those on Semaglutide.
Even though these side effects were more common with higher doses of Tirzepatide, the benefits in blood sugar control and weight loss were greater. The researchers said that these results are important for helping doctors and patients decide which medicine might be best, especially when weight loss is also a treatment goal.
More details from this research, including exact numbers on weight changes, are expected to be shared during a live presentation at the conference. This will help experts understand the full impact of the findings and how they might change treatment approaches in the future.
In summary, Tirzepatide appears to be more effective than Semaglutide for managing Type 2 diabetes and promoting weight loss, especially at higher doses. But it may also come with a higher chance of stomach-related side effects, which patients and doctors should consider when choosing a treatment.
If you care about diabetes, please read studies about 5 vitamins that may prevent complication in diabetes, and how to manage high blood pressure and diabetes with healthy foods.
For more health information, please see recent studies about vitamin D and type2 diabetes, and to people with type 2 diabetes, some fruits are better than others.
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