Anti-obesity drug helps people shed 24 kg in clinical trial 

People with obesity lost at least 24 kilograms on average when they were treated with the highest dose of a new hunger-blocking drug in a large clinical trial. 

The drug named Tirzepatide, developed by American pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly), is a once-weekly injection that promotes weight loss by mimicking the effects of natural hormones called incretins. 

As per reports, these hormones lower blood sugar after we eat, in addition to regulating metabolic processes related to digestion.

The drug maker claimed that Tirzepatide has enabled folks with obesity or who are overweight to lose about 22.5% of their body weight. 

The clinical trial enrolled a total of 2,539 participants from across the US, Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Japan, Mexico, Russia and Taiwan. 

On average, participants in the study weighed 105 kg at the outset and had a body mass index (BMI) of 38.

At the end of the study, those taking the higher doses of tirzepatide weighed about 81 kg and had a BMI just below 30. 

Earlier in June 2021, the US Food and Drug Administration approved another obesity drug called semaglutide, which contains a GLP-1 mimic on its own, without the addition of Gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP). 

Semaglutide also promotes weight loss, but by about 15% on average, suggesting that the added GIP component in tirzepatide gives an extra boost. 

Like semaglutide, tirzepatide can trigger side effects such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and constipation that seem worse at higher doses.

The only other treatment is bariatric surgery, which can result in substantial weight loss. But many people are ineligible or simply do not want the surgery. 

It is pertinent to mention here that the company is yet to submit the data for publication in a peer-reviewed medical journal or presented them in a public setting, the claims nonetheless amazed medical experts.