A drug approved to treat Type 2 diabetes is extremely effective at reducing obesity, according to a new study.
The drug, called tirzepatide, works on two naturally occurring hormones that help control blood sugar and are involved in sending fullness signals from the gut to the brainResearchers noticed that people who took the drug for their diabetes lost weight. The new trial focused on people who have obesity without diabetes and found even more weight loss.
Tirzepatide is not available for weight loss, but Lilly hopes to have an updated timeline from the FDA this year, Emmick said. Before approving the drug for weight loss, the regulatory agency may want Lilly to complete other studies underway examining tirzepatide in people with obesity and diabetes and the addition of lifestyle changes to the drug regimen.
It would be helpful, Rind said, to run a head-to-head trial between the two drugs to see whether there are any differences in their health benefits. Diagnosed with fatty liver disease in June 2019, a worried Bruehl began skipping breakfast – except for coffee – to cut down on calories and lose a little weight.
Bruehl no longer needed metformin for her diabetes, and her fatty liver resolved. The one negative side effect was nausea, which Bruehl felt the day after each of her weekly shots of tirzepatide. An anti-nausea pill in the morning took care of it, she said. Dr. Ania Jastreboff, an obesity medicine specialist at Yale Medicine, who helped lead the trial, said her patients responded in a variety of ways to tirzepatide, just as they would to any other medication, including some who got no benefit at all. Nine out of 10 lost weight, and on the highest dose, 15 mg, they lost an average of 52 pounds each.