Researchers have suggested that millions of diabetics could see the life-changing results of an “amazing” new drug.
Tirzepatide works by mimicking hormones that help control blood sugar and curb appetite for weight loss.
It has already been shown to be more effective than other similar drugs, including those on the NHS.
But the new data, which is expected to be presented at a medical conference, will reveal that it works even faster for up to 12 weeks.
The scientists involved in the analysis said the injections once a week produced results “beyond anything else available to us now.”
Tirzepatide mimics hormones in the body, helping people feel full and satisfied after a meal.
These levels are often low in obese patients, who tend to make up the majority of patients with type 2 diabetes.
In addition to helping people feel full, the drug controls diabetes by allowing the body to avoid sugar related accidents, removing excess sugar from the body, and preventing the liver from producing and excreting too much sugar.
Uncontrolled diabetes can lead to blindness and leave patients in need of amputations or in a coma.
The new analysis shows that tirzepatide, sold under the Mounjaro brand and produced by US pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, could provide better and faster improvements for sufferers.
The new data comes from two studies that compared a dose of 5 mg, 10 mg or 15 mg with two different existing drugs.
Doses of tirzepatide were increased by 2.5 mg every four weeks until the desired dose was reached and then maintained throughout the trial period, which lasted approximately one year.
One study involved nearly 1,500 people with type 2 diabetes.
The other study compared the three doses of tirzepatide with another weekly dose for weight loss and diabetes called semaglutide.
Tirzepatide recipients reached a key milestone in their glycemic control, a hemoglobin A1c level of less than 7%, on average four weeks faster than those taking semaglutide.
It also exceeded daily insulin doses, with participants taking tirzepatide reporting a hemoglobin A1c level below 6.5% 12 weeks earlier.
Similar results for weight loss were also reported in the semaglutide study.
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