• Posted September 13, 2024

Ozempic, Mounjaro Help People With Type 1 Diabetes Control Blood Sugar, Lose Weight

Initially approved to treat type 2 diabetes, Ozempic and Mounjaro also can help people with type 1 diabetes lose weight and control their blood sugar levels, a new study finds.

Overweight or obese type 1 diabetics taking Mounjaro were able to reduce the amount of daily insulin they needed, researchers reported Thursday at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes annual meeting in Madrid.

And both drugs helped patients lose weight, which can improve blood sugar control, researchers said.

Ozempic (semaglutide) and Mounjaro (tirzepatide) help the body produce more insulin when needed -- something that won’t help type 1 diabetics, who have lost the ability to produce any insulin.

However, the drugs also slow down digestion of food and reduce the amount of glucose produced by the liver, both of which should help some type 1 diabetics control blood sugar levels, researchers said.

“Some of the mechanisms through which semaglutide and tirzepatide lower blood sugar in type 2 diabetes are also likely to be relevant in type 1 diabetes,” said lead researcher Janet Snell-Bergeon, a professor with the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

For this study, researchers analyzed medical data for 100 adults with type 1 diabetes, half of whom where prescribed Ozempic and the other half Mounjaro.

Both drugs prompted weight loss. Type 1 diabetics lost an average of 9% of their body weight on Ozempic, and more than 21%, on average, with Mounjaro.

Overall, 77% of Ozempic users and 93% of Mounjaro users lost at least 5% of their body weight, compared to 14% of a matched control group that didn’t take the drugs.

Similarly, 47% of Ozempic users and 87% of Mounjaro users lost at least 10% of their body weight – something not achieved by anyone in the control group.

“This amount of weight loss has been seen in other studies of these drugs and is likely to lower the risk of a number of consequences of obesity, including heart disease and insulin resistance,” Snell-Bergeon said in a meeting news release.

For Mounjaro users, that weight loss translated into an 18% reduction in the amount of insulin they took daily, researchers said.

“This is a substantial reduction and is an indication that insulin resistance has improved,” Snell-Bergeon noted.

These results show that the two drugs can help people with type 1 diabetes keep their blood sugar under control, researchers concluded.

“Semaglutide and tirzepatide can lead to significant weight loss in these patients and improve their blood sugar levels, which could reduce their risk of complications of obesity and diabetes, including heart disease and eye, nerve and kidney problems,” Snell-Bergeon said.

“These drugs could be a valuable addition to insulin in the treatment of type 1 diabetes,” Snell-Bergeon continued.  “However, larger, prospective trials are now needed to fully evaluate their safety and efficacy in type 1 diabetes patients living with overweight and obesity.”

Because these findings were presented at a medical meeting, they should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about type 1 diabetes.

SOURCE: European Association for the Study of Diabetes, news release, Sept. 12, 2024