{"id":36687,"date":"2022-06-04T18:11:05","date_gmt":"2022-06-04T18:11:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/diabetes-drug-could-be-a-game-changer-for-obesity-new-study-shows\/"},"modified":"2022-06-04T18:11:05","modified_gmt":"2022-06-04T18:11:05","slug":"diabetes-drug-could-be-a-game-changer-for-obesity-new-study-shows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/diabetes-drug-could-be-a-game-changer-for-obesity-new-study-shows\/","title":{"rendered":"Diabetes drug could be a game changer for obesity, new study shows"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A drug recently approved to treat type 2 diabetes is also extremely effective at reducing obesity, according to a new study.<\/p>\n
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 brain. <\/strong><\/p>\n
Researchers noticed that people who took the drug for their diabetes also lost weight. The new trial focused on people who have obesity without diabetes and found even more weight loss.<\/p>\n
Those taking the highest of three studied doses lost as much as 21% of their body weight – as many as 50-60 pounds in some cases.<\/p>\n
Nothing has provided that kind of weight loss except surgery, said Dr. Robert Gabbay, chief scientific and medical officer for the American Diabetes Association. The full study was presented Saturday at the ADA’s annual convention in New Orleans and simultaneously published in the New England Journal of Medicine.<\/p>\n\n
Another obesity treatment approved last year called semaglutide, from Novo Nordisk, provides an average of up to about 15% weight loss. Previous generations of diet drugs cut only about 5% of weight and many carried prohibitive side effects. <\/p>\n
“We’ve not had tools like this,” Gabbay said. “I think it’s really exciting.”<\/p>\n
For most of the trial participants, side effects from tirzepatide were not serious, said Jeff Emmick, vice president of product development for the diabetes division of drug giant Lilly, which makes the drug.<\/p>\n\n
About 15% of participants who received the active drug dropped out of the 72-week trial, about a third because of gastrointestinal side effects. Meanwhile, 26% of trial volunteers who received a placebo dropped out. Emmick said he thinks they may have been frustrated by their lack of weight loss.<\/p>\n
On May 13, the Food and Drug Administration approved tirzepatide, under the trade name Mounjaro, for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.<\/p>\n\n
Tirzepatide is not yet available for weight loss, but Lilly hopes to submit data to the FDA later this year, Emmick said. Before approving the drug for weight loss, the regulatory agency may first 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. <\/p>\n
Weight loss of 15% to more than 20% also has the potential to change the way doctors treat diabetes, Gabbay said, from focusing on reducing blood sugar to aiming for total remission.<\/p>\n
An previous study of tirzepatide in diabetes showed that half the participants who were early in the course of their diabetes went into remission while taking the drug. <\/p>\n
“That is a potential game-changer in how we think about therapy for people with type 2 diabetes,” he said.<\/p>\n
What’s not known yet, Gabbay said, is whether remission achieved this way will reduce the typical complications of diabetes, which can include cardiovascular disease, nerve and kidney damage and limb amputations.<\/p>\n
It’s also unclear yet whether tirzepatide will provide the cardiovascular benefits that semaglutide does, said Dr. David Rind, a primary care physician and chief medical officer for the Boston-based Institute for Clinical and Economic Review. <\/p>\n
It would be helpful, Rind said, to run a head-to-head trial between the two drugs to see if there are any differences in their health benefits.<\/p>\n
“The question is, is tirzepatide a step better than all those (other weight loss) drugs?” Rind said. “There’s certainly reason to think it might be, but I don’t think it’s been proven yet.”<\/p>\n
Positive side effect <\/h2>\n
It certainly has made a difference for Mary Bruehl, 63, of Norman, Oklahoma. <\/p>\n