Instead of the normal newsletter this week, it’s going to be an audio edition, which you can listen to right here:
I previously mentioned the project that I’m working on called “Beyond Journal Club,” a podcast collaboration between Core IM Podcast and the NEJM Group.
We just released our second episode on the SURMOUNT-1 trial, which is the clinical trial that put Mounjaro (tirzepatide) on the map as a weight loss drug.
This is the story behind the clinical trial.
In the podcast, you’ll learn about:
A framework for thinking about obesity as an environmental disease, and why this framework helps us understand the rising numbers on obesity and metabolic syndrome
The history of weight loss drugs before the current era - a story of unintended side effects, ineffectiveness, and not making a dent in the problem
How the Gila Monster - a venomous lizard native to the American Southwest and Mexico - inspired the development of Ozempic and Mounjaro
Why the scandal about the cardiovascular toxicity caused by the diabetes drug Avandia changed the nature of diabetes trials and opened the door for the weight loss drug revolution
The outcomes from the early studies on drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro, including a head to head comparison
A deep dive into the SURMOUNT-1 trial, which showed a pretty astounding impact of tirzepatide on weight loss
I hope you enjoy!
Some of our graphics from the show notes below, and the show notes themselves can be found here.
The mechanisms that these drugs use is fascinating - they work all over our bodies, but the weight loss impact probably happens in the brain, where these medications reduce appetite:
The history of landmark trials of these medications on both diabetes and weight loss, as well as a peak into the future:
