One group was given a placebo injection once a week for 72 weeks, while the other three were provided either 5mg, 10mg, or 15mg of a new drug called tirzepatide.

Every participant was asked to take low-calorie meals and ensure around 150 minutes of physical activity a week. On average, the participants had a body weight of 104.8kg and 94.5% were obese. The majority of the people were white and female. No one had diabetes.

After the end of the 72-week period, participants who were given 5mg of tirzepatide every week lost an average of 16.1kg, people given 10mg shed an average weight of 22.2kg, and the group who had taken the 15mg lost an average weight of 23.6kg. The group which was given a placebo injection lost an average weight of 2.4kg.

Around 57 percent of people given the highest dose shed 20% or more of body weight in comparison to 3% of people who were given the placebo.

“We should treat obesity as we treat any chronic disease with effective and safe approaches which target underlying disease mechanisms, and these results underscore that tirzepatide may be doing just that,” said Dr Ania Jastreboff of Yale University, who was the lead author of the research.

Source: Medindia