A new study has found that the diabetes drug tirzepatide helps people lower their blood sugar and lose weight more quickly than other commonly used treatments.
Researchers at the East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust discovered that people taking tirzepatide reached their blood sugar and weight-loss goals weeks earlier than those taking other diabetes medications.
Type 2 diabetes is a long-term condition in which the body struggles to use insulin properly. Insulin is a hormone that helps control blood sugar levels, and when it doesn’t work well, sugar builds up in the blood.
Over time, high blood sugar can lead to serious problems like heart disease, kidney failure, and nerve damage. To stay healthy, people with type 2 diabetes often take medicines, eat healthy food, and exercise.
Tirzepatide is a new drug that copies the effects of two natural hormones in the body—GLP-1 and GIP. These hormones help lower blood sugar and reduce hunger, which makes it easier for people to manage their weight. The drug was approved in the United States in May 2022 for treating type 2 diabetes.
In the study, scientists compared tirzepatide with two other common treatments: semaglutide (another injection drug) and insulin degludec. All the participants were also eating healthy food and taking other oral diabetes pills.
The results showed that people taking tirzepatide reached their target blood sugar levels much faster than those taking semaglutide or insulin. On average, those taking tirzepatide got their HbA1c level below 7% in just eight weeks. For the other two drugs, it took about 12 weeks.
When aiming for an even lower blood sugar level (HbA1c of 6.5% or less), tirzepatide helped people get there in 12 weeks, while semaglutide took 16 weeks and insulin took 24 weeks.
Tirzepatide also helped people lose weight faster. Losing weight is very important for people with type 2 diabetes because it helps control blood sugar and lowers the risk of heart disease.
People taking the higher doses of tirzepatide (10 mg and 15 mg) lost at least 5% of their body weight in just 12 weeks. Those taking semaglutide needed about 24 weeks to lose the same amount.
Losing 5% of body weight may not sound like much, but it can make a big difference in health. Getting these results in half the time gives people more hope and motivation.
Dr. Adie Viljoen, the lead researcher, said that quick results in blood sugar and weight loss can help people manage their diabetes better. This study shows that tirzepatide could be a strong option for treating type 2 diabetes more effectively and more quickly.
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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