A long-term study reveals how tirzepatide not only cuts weight but also slashes diabetes risk in people with prediabetes, highlighting a major advance in obesity and diabetes care. Study: Tirzepatide for Obesity Treatment and Diabetes Prevention . Image Credit: Suzanne Tucker / Shutterstock In a phase-3 randomized controlled trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers investigated the effects of tirzepatide on weight reduction and diabetes prevention in individuals with obesity and prediabetes.
They found that tirzepatide led to substantial weight loss and significantly reduced the progression to type 2 diabetes (T2D) over the long term compared to placebo, with primarily mild to moderate gastrointestinal side effects occurring mostly during the initial dose-escalation phase. Background Dual Receptor Agonism: Tirzepatide's unique action as a dual agonist for both GLP-1 and GIP receptors may provide a synergistic effect, enhancing its efficacy in reducing hyperglycemia beyond that seen with GLP-1 agonists alone. Obesity, affecting nearly a billion people worldwide, is closely linked to prediabetes, which raises the lifetime risk of developing T2D by up to 70%.
Obesity, a chronic neuroendocrine disease, exacerbates insulin resistance and pancreatic beta-cell dysfunction, fueling diabetes progression. Earlier approaches focused on delaying diabetes onset through lifestyle changes, medications, or bariatric surgery. Newer pharmacological treatments like.