Obesity: a drug against diabetes also helps to lose weight

A drug against type 2 diabetes has also allowed obese patients to lose weight after more than a year of treatment. This is the result of a clinical trial conducted at Yale University.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 13% of the world’s population suffers fromobesity (a BMI than 30), or more than 600 million people. If the figure indicated by the scale does not necessarily reflect the state of health of the person who climbed on it, obesity is known to promote disease chronicle like diabetes type 2, thehypertension and other health issues that may decrease thelife expectancy.

A drug already approved to treat type 2 diabetes, tirzepatide, allowed participants to clinical test conducted by physicians from Yale University of lose weight significantly. The drug has been tested in three dosages different — 5, 10 and 15 mg — and injected under the skin once a week for 72 weeks. The 2,500 patients are all obese, with an average weight of 104 kilos, and also have at least one complication related to their weight. Diabetic patients are excluded from the clinical trial, but those with pre-diabetes were included.

An effective anti-diabetic for weight loss

Participants treated with 5 mg tirzepatide lost an average of 15% of their mass after 72 weeks, those who took 10 and 15 mg lost 19.5 and 20.9% of their body weight, respectively. It’s only 3% for people who received a placebo. On average, tirzepatide reduced participants’ fat mass by 33.9%, improving the fat mass-to-lean mass ratio and bringing it closer to that achieved by sports-based weight loss strategies. and food or surgery. In addition to the decrease in body mass, tirzepatide restored the blood sugar within normal values ​​in pre-diabetic patients. This may decrease the risk of developing a heart diseaserenal, hepatic and type 2 diabetes.

In terms of side effects, tirzepatide has caused symptoms gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, diarrhea and constipation of mild to moderate severity. Eleven people died during the duration of the clinical trial, both in the “placebo” group and the “treatment” group. As the clinical trial ran from December 2019 to April 2022, several participants died from Covid-19, others suffered pulmonary embolisma stroke or heart failure. Deaths that do not seem directly related to tirzepatide. Further results are required for tirzepatide to obtain a marketing authorization in the treatment of obesity.