NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!
Taking diabetes once a week leads to dramatic weight loss in obese people, according to a recent study in The New England Journal of Medicine. The authors of the study say that participants in the 72-week study lost up to 20% of their body weight.
“Findings suggest that tirzepatide may be a potential therapeutic option for obese people, with participants losing between 16% and 22.5% of their initial weight,” the study authors said.
The drug, tirzepatide, is a new drug that was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration to help treat type 2 diabetes by injection once a week. The drug acts on two hormones that help control blood sugar and send signals of fullness to the brain, the study authors explain. The researchers decided to look at the effect of diabetes medicine on obesity and presented the results of a phase 3 trial at a symposium of the 82nd Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) in New Orleans, Louisiana.
An obese man measures his belly. (Credit: iStock)
KIM KARDASHIAN’S GREAT DIET MAY LEAD TO MORE ADDITIONAL WEIGHT LOSS: HEALTH EXPERTS
The 72-week double-blind, randomized, controlled phase 3 study included more than 2,500 participants who were considered obese and did not have diabetes.
The team of researchers divided the participants into four groups. Three of the groups were given 5 mg, 10 mg or 15 mg of tirzepatide to be administered alone once a week for 72 weeks, while the fourth group was given a placebo injection alone. All four groups received counseling sessions on lifestyle habits and low-calorie meals. They also do at least 150 minutes of physical activity a week.
The researchers found that 89% of the participants who took the 5 mg dose of the drug and 96% of those who took the 10 mg and 15 mg weekly doses of the drug achieved at least a 5% reduction in body weight compared to with 28% of those in the placebo group.
A drug designed to treat cholesterol has been found to reduce coronavirus infection by 70% in laboratory studies, and researchers are now calling for additional clinical trials among hospitalized patients with COVID-19. (iStock)
According to the report, participants who took the 5 mg dose of tirzepatide lost an average of 35 pounds, and the 10 mg group achieved an average loss of 49 pounds. Participants who received the 15 mg injection noticed an average weight loss of 52 pounds over the 72-week course of the study. Those in the placebo group achieved an average weight loss of 5 pounds, according to the study.
PEOPLE LOSE WEIGHT FOR HEALTH BENEFITS, NOT FOR PHYSICAL OUTSIDE: A STUDY OF THE MAYO CLINIC
“Obesity must be treated like any other chronic disease – with effective and safe approaches to the underlying mechanisms of the disease, and these results emphasize that tirzepatide can do just that,” said lead researcher Anya Yastreboff, MD, associate professor. at Yale University of Medicine and director of weight management and obesity prevention at the Yale Stress Center told a media outlet.
Man during a bench press exercise in the gym (iStock)
“These results are an important step forward in potentially expanding effective therapeutic options for obese people. In particular, about 9 out of 10 obese individuals have lost weight while taking tirzepatide,” said Yastrebov, co-director of the Yale Center for Obesity. Weight management in Connecticut says in a media report.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APPLICATION
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the prevalence of obesity in the United States was nearly 42% in 2017 by March 2020. The CDC said that obesity-related conditions include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and some cancers.
Add Comment