Zepbound Slashes Diabetes Risk in Obese Users
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 27, 2024 -- The cutting-edge weight-loss drug Zepbound can protect obese people from developing type 2 diabetes, a new clinical trial has found.
Zepbound reduced the risk of diabetes in obese prediabetic patients by more than 90% during a three-year period compared to placebo, trial results show.
“These results show that type 2 diabetes may be prevented, even in people who are on the verge of it, by using a medicine that causes weight loss,” researcher Dr. Louis Aronne, director of the Comprehensive Weight Control Center at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, said in a news release.
People with prediabetes have higher-than-normal blood sugar levels, but have not yet developed full-blown type 2 diabetes. Obesity is a risk factor both for prediabetes and for type 2 diabetes.
For this clinical trial, more than 2,500 obese people were randomly assigned to receive one of three different doses of Zepbound, or a placebo, for more than three years. Of those patients, more than 1,000 had prediabetes.
Zepbound (tirzepatide) in an injectable drug that activates receptors in the body for glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide (GIP) receptors, researchers said.
These receptors help slow digestion, reduce appetite and improve blood sugar control. GLP-1 drugs have been shown to promote significant weight loss.
In this trial, patients taking Zepbound had lost 12% to 20% of their initial weight after three years on the drug, with more weight lost at higher doses. By comparison, those on placebo lost a little more than 1% of their weight on average.
The drug also helped patients avoid diabetes. Only 1% of obese prediabetic patients taking Zepbound progressed to type 2 diabetes, compared with 13% of patients taking a placebo.
Based on these results, Zepbound could feasibly become the first approved treatment for prediabetes, Aronne said.
“Think about the impact these types of weight-loss drugs can have in preventing not only diabetes but also many other common diabetes-related complications such as heart disease, liver and kidney disease, sleep apnea, arthritis, and more,” Arrone said.
The findings were recently published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Sources
- Weill Cornell Medicine, news release
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
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