An anti-obesity drug recently approved in the United States could “significantly” reduce the blood pressure of people with obesity.
- An anti-diabetic drug was authorized as a weight loss treatment in November 2023 in the United States.
- A new study shows that it also has beneficial effects on blood pressure.
- This treatment acts in particular on insulin secretion.
Last November, American health authorities approved the marketing of tirzepatide, an antidiabetic drug, as a treatment for obesity. A new study, published in the journal of the American Heart Associationshows that this drug is also effective in reducing blood pressure in people with obesity.
Weight loss medication: what are its effects on reducing blood pressure?
The work, carried out by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, was planned as part of research into the drug’s effects on weight loss. “The substudy was designed to evaluate the effects of tirzepatide on blood pressure levels., develop the authors in a press release. 500 people received either a placebo or a dose of the drug, with different dosages. About a third of participants had high blood pressure at the start of the study and were taking one or more blood pressure medications.
A reduction in blood pressure in people with obesity thanks to weight loss medication
At the end of the study, all participants who took the treatment had a reduction in their systolic blood pressure. “The new weight loss drug, tirzepatide, significantly reduced systolic blood pressure (the highest number in a blood pressure measurement) in nearly 500 obese adults who took the drug for about eight months., conclude the authors. They observed that the blood pressure readings seen with tirzepatide rivaled those seen with most blood pressure medications. Its beneficial effects on hypertension have been noted day and night. However, the authors point out that ““Nocturnal systolic blood pressure is a more powerful predictor of cardiovascular and all-cause death”compared to daytime blood pressure.
Blood pressure and obesity: how does this new weight loss drug work?
Tirzepatide was originally designed to treat diabetes. “It works by mimicking two metabolic hormones in the bodyspecify the authors, it behaves as an agonist of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptors and also as an agonist of glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptors.” These two hormones will stimulate a person’s insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity after a meal. “It has been shown so far to help regulate blood sugar levels, slow digestion and reduce appetite, making a person feel fuller and eat less, leading to weight loss”, they continue. For the moment, American scientists do not know whether the effects of the treatment on blood pressure are linked to the drug itself or to weight loss. “Although tirzepatide has been studied as a weight loss drug, the reduction in blood pressure in our patients in this study was impressive.”, insists James A. de Lemos, lead author of this research. However, he cautions that further studies will be needed to understand the long-term impact of this drug.
