Latest news with #tirzepatide
The Sun
5 hours ago
- Health
- The Sun
New link between ‘King Kong' of fat jabs and breast cancer, discovered – are you affected?
IT seems every week there's a new claim about what fat jabs can cure - beyond banishing that belly. The so-called skinny jabs - that were initially designed as treatment for type 2 diabetes, could lower the risk of breast cancer. 3 Since exploding onto the weight loss scene, GLP-1 drugs have been found to come with extra beneficial side effects, according to various studies. They range from lowering the risk of heart disease, dementia, lung disease, depression as well as increasing libido and helping to combat addiction to booze and drugs. And now, scientists in the US have found another pro to the seemingly "miracle" drugs, specifially tirzepatide, the ingredient behind Mounjaro, may "significantly" slow the growth of breast cancer tumour. That said, the experiments were conducted on mice and so the experts cautioned further research was necessary to confirm their findings. The authors from the University of Michigan also didn't speculate on why the drug, nicknamed the 'King Kong' of all fat jabs for its effectiveness, might lower a patient's risk of cancer It comes as breakthrough research in May revealed that GLP-1s could help ward off up to dozens types of cancer, including breast. "While these are very preliminary results, they suggest that this new anti-obesity drug may also have a beneficial impact on breast cancer outcomes," study author, Amanda Kucinskas, said. For the study, researchers tracked 16 obese mice with breast cancer tumors, which were made obese by feeding them a high-fat diet starting at nine weeks old. When the mice reached 32 weeks, middle age for a mouse, they were split into two groups. One group received tirzepatide injections every other day for 16 weeks, while the other was given a placebo. Weight Loss Jabs - Pros vs Cons Throughout the treatment, the team monitored the mice's weight and tumor size twice weekly. Those treated with tirzepatide lost about 20 per cent of their body weight, mirroring weight loss seen in humans taking the drug Mounjaro over long periods. Additionally, these mice developed noticeably smaller tumors. The study highlighted a strong connection between reduced body weight and smaller tumors, with fat mass playing a key role in tumor growth. Most of the fat loss came from the body's main fat stores, which is called adipose tissue. What are the signs of breast cancer? BREAST cancer is the most common type of cancer in the UK. The majority of women who get it are over 50, but younger women and, in rare cases, men can also get breast cancer. If it's treated early enough, breast cancer can be prevented from spreading to other parts of the body. Breast cancer can have a number of symptoms, but the first noticeable symptom is usually a lump or area of thickened breast tissue. Most breast lumps aren't cancerous, but it's always best to have them checked by your doctor. You should also speak to your GP if you notice any of the following: a change in the size or shape of one or both breasts discharge from either of your nipples (which may be streaked with blood) a lump or swelling in either of your armpits dimpling on the skin of your breasts a rash on or around your nipple a change in the appearance of your nipple, such as becoming sunken into your breast Source: NHS These findings were unveiled this week at ENDO 2025, the Endocrine Society's annual conference held in San Francisco. This research supports earlier findings shared at the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) conference in May, which suggested GLP-1 drugs might reduce the risk of 14 obesity-related cancers, including breast cancer, in diabetic patients. In that study, US researchers found that patients taking GLP-1 therapies had a 7 per cent lower chance of developing obesity-related cancers compared to those on DPP-4 inhibitors. When accounting for overall health benefits, the GLP-1 group was also 8 per cent less likely to die over a decade. 3 Step-by-step guide on how to check boobs thoroughly Stand in front of a mirror with your hands by your sides, then above your head and place your hands on your hips and push in on your hips slightly. In each position, look for any changes in breast size or shape, and any new asymmetry, lumps or changes in outline. Look to see if your nipple is pointing in a different direction or has turned inwards (if you have always had inverted nipples, this is normal for you and not of concern). Check if there is any nipple discharge or crusting, any rashes, darker or red patches, or other changes such as the appearance of cellulite or if the skin is like orange peel. Feel the whole of the chest area with your finger pads, including the breast tissue that extends up to the collarbone and into the armpit. You are feeling for changes such as a lump, thickening or bumpy area. It does not matter exactly how you examine your breasts, be it in sections like a quarter at a time, or starting from the nipple and working outwards in circular motions, just that you examine the whole area. If you do notice any changes, see your GP.
The Independent
8 hours ago
- Health
- The Independent
Hidden health benefits from weight-loss shots revealed
Weight-loss injections, including popular drugs like Wegovy and Mounjaro, may offer a protective shield against serious conditions such as dementia and stroke, a new study has indicated. The research also suggests that individuals with type 2 diabetes and obesity who are prescribed these medications could face a reduced risk of premature death. Academics behind the study noted that while the efficacy of GLP agonist drugs – such as semaglutide (found in Wegovy and Ozempic) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro) – in managing weight and blood sugar levels is widely recognised, their wider health benefits have remained less understood. The comprehensive study, conducted by experts in Taiwan, examined data from 60,000 people worldwide, with an average age of 58, all diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and obesity. Roughly half of the participants were given GLP agonist drugs. These medications function by curbing appetite, slowing digestion, reducing the liver's sugar output, and enhancing the body's insulin production when required. The other half used other anti-diabetic medication. During a seven-year follow-up period, researchers found that people given the GLP agonist drugs appeared to have a 37 per cent lower risk of dementia and a 19 per cent reduced risk of stroke. They were also 30 per cent less likely to die during the follow-up period. When researchers looked at the data further, they found even greater benefits in people aged 60 or older, women, and those with a body mass index score of 30 to 40. They found no differences in Parkinson's disease or brain bleeds. The academics said their findings suggest 'potential neuroprotective and cerebrovascular benefits' of the drugs but they called for more studies to confirm the findings. 'These findings suggest that semaglutide and tirzepatide may offer neuroprotective and cerebrovascular benefits beyond glycemic control, potentially improving long-term cognitive and survival outcomes in adults with type 2 diabetes and obesity,' they wrote in the journal JAMA Network Open. Commenting on the study, Professor Tara Spires-Jones, director of the Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences at the University of Edinburgh and group leader in the UK Dementia Research Institute, said: 'This is a very interesting study adding to evidence that GLP1 receptor agonists are associated with a lower risk of dementia in people with type 2 diabetes and obesity. 'This type of study cannot determine whether the drugs reduced disease risk by directly protecting the brain. 'It is highly likely that effectively treating type 2 diabetes and obesity would reduce dementia and stroke risk as they are known risk factors for these conditions. 'Further work is needed including randomised clinical trials to confirm these drugs are protective in people with diabetes and obesity and other trials are needed to determine whether these drugs will be protective in people who do not have type 2 diabetes and obesity.'
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Weight loss drugs may lower risk of dementia, stroke: Study
Some popular weight loss drugs may lower the risk of dementia and stroke for patients with Type 2 diabetes and obesity, new research published in JAMA Network suggests. Patients taking semaglutide or tirzepatide medications — active ingredients in weight loss drugs such as Ozempic, Mounjaro and Wegovy — showed a lower risk of developing certain diseases compared to those taking other, similar medications. Those include neurodegenerative diseases, such as dementia and Alzheimer's, and cerebrovascular disease, which manifests in strokes, brain aneurysms and more. Researchers analyzed the health developments over seven years in 60,000 adults aged 40 or older diagnosed with both Type 2 diabetes and obesity, as recorded by the TriNetX U.S. network. The patients were all users of semaglutide, tirzepatide or other GLP-1 anti-diabetes drugs from December 2017 through June 2024. The effects were most prominent among women, patients older than 60 and those with a body mass index of 30 to 40. Researchers acknowledged more clinical trials are needed to corroborate their initial findings, but they maintained the data 'represents one of the most recent clinical database–driven analyses to investigate the neuroprotective and cerebrovascular associations of newer GLP-1RAs' for some patients. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Medscape
3 days ago
- Health
- Medscape
Can Nonresponders to Antiobesity Medicines Be Predicted?
Emerging research indicates that phenotype-based testing may help identify which biologic process is driving an individual's obesity, enabling clinicians to better tailor antiobesity medication (AOM) to the patient. Currently, patient response to AOMs varies widely, with some patients responding robustly to AOMs and others responding weakly or not at all. For example, trials of the GLP-1 semaglutide found that 32%-39.6% of people are 'super responders,' achieving weight loss in excess of 20%, and a subgroup of 10.2%-16.7% of individuals are nonresponders. Similar variability was found with other AOMs, including the GLP-1 liraglutide and tirzepatide, a dual GLP-1/glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide receptor agonist. Studies of semaglutide suggest that people with obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) lose less weight on the drug than those without T2D, and men tend to lose less weight than women. However, little else is known about predictors of response rates for various AOMs, and medication selection is typically based on patient or physician preference, comorbidities, medication interactions, and insurance coverage. Although definitions of a 'nonresponder' vary, the Endocrine Society's latest guideline, which many clinicians follow, states that an AOM is considered effective if patients lose more than 5% of their body weight within 3 months. Can nonresponders and lower responders be identified and helped? Yes, but it's complicated. 'Treating obesity effectively means recognizing that not all patients respond the same way to the same treatment, and that's not a failure; it's a signal,' said Andres Acosta, MD, PhD, an obesity expert at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, and a cofounder of Phenomix Sciences, a biotech company in Menlo Park, California. 'Obesity is not a single disease. It's a complex, multifactorial condition driven by diverse biological pathways,' he told Medscape Medical News. 'Semaglutide and other GLP-1s primarily act by reducing appetite and slowing gastric emptying, but not all patients have obesity that is primarily driven by appetite dysregulation.' Phenotype-Based Profiling Figuring out what drives an individual's obesity is where a phenotype-based profiling test could possibly help. Acosta and colleagues previously used a variety of validated studies and questionnaires to identify four phenotypes that represent distinct biologic drivers of obesity: hungry brain (abnormal satiation), emotional hunger (hedonic eating), hungry gut (abnormal satiety), and slow burn (decreased metabolic rate). In their pragmatic clinical trial, phenotype-guided AOM selection was associated with 1.75-fold greater weight loss after 12 months than the standard approach to drug selection, with mean weight loss of 15.9% and 9%, respectively. 'If a patient's obesity isn't primarily rooted in the mechanisms targeted by a particular drug, their response will naturally be limited,' Acosta said. 'It's not that they're failing the medication; the medication simply isn't the right match for their biology.' For their new study, published online in Cell Metabolism , Acosta and colleagues built on their previous research by analyzing the genetic and nongenetic factors that influenced calories needed to reach satiation (Calories to Satiation [CTS]) in adults with obesity. They then used machine learning techniques to develop a CTS gene risk score (CTS-GRS) that could be measured by a DNA saliva test. The study included 717 adults with obesity (mean age, 41; 75% women) with marked variability in satiation, ranging from 140 to 2166 kcals to reach satiation. CTS was assessed through an ad libitum meal, combined with physiological and behavioral evaluations, including calorimetry, imaging, blood sampling, and gastric emptying tests. The largest contributors to CTS variability were sex and genetic factors, while other anthropometric measurements played lesser roles. Various analyses and assessments of participants' CTS-GRS scores showed that individuals with a high CTS-GRS, or hungry brain phenotype, experienced significantly greater weight loss when treated with phentermine/topiramate than those with a low CTS-GRS, or hungry gut, phenotype. After 52 weeks of treatment, individuals with the hungry brain phenotype lost an average of 17.4% of their body weight compared with 11.2% in those with the hungry gut phenotype. An analysis of a separate 16-week study showed that patients with the hungry gut phenotype responded better to the GLP-1 liraglutide, losing 6.4% total body weight, compared to 3.3% for those with the hungry brain phenotype. Overall, the CTS-GRS test predicted drug response with up to 84% accuracy (area under the curve, 0.76 in men and 0.84 in women). The authors acknowledged that these results need to be replicated prospectively and in more diverse populations to validate the test's predictive ability. 'This kind of phenotype-based profiling allows us to predict which patients are more likely to respond and who might need a different intervention,' Acosta said. 'It's a critical step toward eliminating trial-and-error in obesity treatment.' The test (MyPhenome test) is used at more than 80 healthcare clinics in the United States, according to Phenomix Sciences, which manufactures it. A company spokesperson said the test does not require FDA approval because it is used to predict obesity phenotypes to help inform treatment, but not to identify specific medications or other interventions. 'If it were to do the latter,' the spokesperson said, 'it would be considered a 'companion diagnostic' and subject to the FDA clearance process.' What to Do if an AOM Isn't Working? It's one thing to predict whether an individual might do better on one drug vs another, but what should clinicians do meanwhile to optimize weight loss for their patients who may be struggling on a particular drug? 'Efforts to predict the response to GLP-1 therapy have been a hot topic,' noted Sriram Machineni, MD, associate professor at Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, and founding director of the Fleischer Institute Medical Weight Center at Montefiore Einstein. Although the current study showed that genetic testing could predict responders, such as Acosta, he agreed that the results need to be replicated in a prospective manner. 'In the absence of a validated tool for predicting response to specific medications, we use a prioritization process for trialing medications,' Machineni told Medscape Medical News . 'The prioritization is based on the suitability of the side-effect profile to the specific patient, including contraindications; benefits independent of weight loss, such as cardiovascular protection for semaglutide; average efficacy; and financial accessibility for patients.' Predicting responders isn't straightforward, said Robert Kushner, MD, professor of medicine and medical education at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University and medical director of the Wellness Institute at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. 'Despite looking at baseline demographic data such as race, ethnicity, age, weight, and BMI, we are unable to predict who will lose more or less weight,' he told Medscape Medical News . The one exception is that women generally lose more weight than men. 'However, even among females, we cannot discern which females will lose more weight than other females,' he said. If an individual is not showing sufficient weight loss on a particular medication, 'we first explore potential reasons that can be addressed, such as the patient is not taking the medication or is skipping doses,' Kushner said. If need be, they discuss changing to a different drug to improve compliance. He also stresses the importance of making lifestyle changes in diet and physical activity for patients taking AOMs. Often patients who do not lose at least 5% of their weight within 3 months are not likely to respond well to that medication even if they remain on it. 'So, early response rates determine longer-term success,' Kushner said. Acosta said that if a patient isn't responding to one class of medication, he pivots to a treatment better aligned with their phenotype. 'That could mean switching from a GLP-1 to a medication like [naltrexone/bupropion] or trying a new method altogether,' he said. 'The key is that the treatment decision is rooted in the patient's biology, not just a reaction to short-term results. We also emphasize the importance of long-term follow-up and support.' The goal isn't just weight loss but also improved health and quality of life, Acosta said. 'Whether through medication, surgery, or behavior change, what matters most is tailoring the care plan to each individual's unique biology and needs.' The new study received support from the Mayo Clinic Clinical Research Trials Unit, Vivus Inc., and Phenomix Sciences. Acosta is supported by a National Institutes of Health grant. Acosta is a co-founder and inventor of intellectual property licensed to Phenomix Sciences Inc.; has served as a consultant for Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Gila Therapeutics, Amgen, General Mills, Boehringer Ingelheim, Currax Pharmaceuticals, Nestlé, Bausch Health, and Rare Diseases; and has received research support or had contracts with Vivus Inc., Satiogen Pharmaceuticals, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Rhythm Pharmaceuticals. Machineni has been involved in semaglutide and tirzepatide clinical trials and has been a consultant to Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly and Company, and Rhythm Pharmaceuticals. Kushner is on the scientific advisory board for Novo Nordisk.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Dieters lose MORE weight on lower doses of slimming jabs - this is the precise amount that scientists found works best
Patients on high doses of a popular weight-loss drug shed fewer pounds than those on a lower dose, a study has found. GLP-1 inhibitor drug Mounjaro – also known as tirzepatide and dubbed the 'King Kong' of slimming jabs – can help patients shed up to a fifth of their body weight in just a year.
