Eli Lilly’s Tirzepatide, dubbed as ‘wonder drug’ for diabetes but can it be a liability?

New Delhi: For the diabetic patients world over, Tirzepatide has come as a game-changing medication which promises not just regulating your insulin levels but also shed that extra flab from your body.

The much touted diabetic drug promises to cut people’s extra weight, especially for those suffering from Type 2 Diabetes. The data from clinical trials also suggest that those taking this drug lost about 16% of their body weight in 16 months.

Tirzepatide medicine by Eli Lilly company is garnering attention from the medical fraternity and reports also suggest that it is moving closer to US Food & Drugs Administration (FDA) approval.

Eli Lilly, the manufacturer of Tirzepatide drug claimed that it helps patients not just control their blood sugar level but also help lose weight.

The company, in a press release, stated that over 900 adults suffering from diabetes & obesity consumed this medicine for 1.5 years. Over the period, they were not just able to control blood sugar but their weight also saw reduction nearly by 16%.

How Tirzepatide works & side effects

Tirzepatide works in similar manner to another popular diabetic drug semaglutide and is also being promoted as ‘superior’ than latter.

Tirzepatide works by controlling a hormone called GLP-1 that controls appetite. It rather mimics 2 gut hormones & alters their functioning for desired results.

After the meal, as blood sugar rises in human blood, this drug stimulates more insulin production, which in turns lowers sugar level. Then, it slows down the movement of food from stomach, thus making one feel ‘filled stomach’ & not hungry.

Side effects of this drug have not known to be serious or toxic but people may experience nausea, vomiting & diarrhea after consumption of this drug.

Can it turn a liability for diabetic patients?

Tirzepatide may have come as wonder drug, owing to its twin benefits of blood sugar & weight control but much like other drug, it will work only till when it is consumed. It means that for availing benefits, you will to keep consuming this drug, the day you will leave it, results will start to disappear.

Some medical analysts do believe that as it achieves difficult task of losing one’s weight, people may get addicted to its usage, even though manufacturers claim that it is not habit-forming.