United States: Eli Lilly’s novel weight-loss drug has brought a new hope which copies the functions of three hormones instead of just one or two, and continues to show positive results in clinical trials.
At the recent European Society of Cardiology meeting in London, researchers reported that Lilly’s retatrutide significantly reduced patients’ blood lipid levels and cardiovascular risks in a mid-stage trial, Reuters reported.
For instance, after 48 weeks, retatrutide reduced triglyceride levels by up to 40.6 percent and levels of apoC-III, a protein involved in glucose metabolism and inflammation, by 38 percent.
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Previously, Lilly announced that patients taking the highest dose of retatrutide in the same trial lost about 24 percent of their body weight, surpassing the results of current popular weight-loss drugs.
However, obese patients in the trial also showed significant improvements in liver fat.
Retatrutide, like tirzepatide (the active ingredient in Lilly’s Mounjaro and Zepbound) and semaglutide (the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Ozempic), mimics the appetite- and blood-sugar-reducing effects of the hormone GLP-1.
Additionally, tirzepatide and retatrutide also copy a second hormone, GIP, to reduce appetite and blood sugar, Reuters reported.
Retatrutide also mimics a third hormone, glucagon, which promotes fat breakdown for energy and prevents dangerously low blood sugar levels. Lilly is currently testing retatrutide in late-stage trials.
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In another study presented at the ESC meeting, researchers suggested that older patients with a common type of heart attack and multiple narrowed coronary arteries should have all those arteries unclogged, not just the one that caused the heart attack.
This type of heart attack, known as STEMI, occurs when an artery carrying blood to the heart becomes completely blocked, causing permanent damage.
For younger patients with STEMI and multiple diseased arteries, doctors often revascularize all the affected blood vessels, placing stents as needed during a catheterization procedure to keep the arteries open.
However, this strategy, which takes longer and may increase the risk of complications, is currently underused in older patients.