Zepbound May Significantly Reduce Blood Pressure, Study Finds

Fact checked by Nick Blackmer

Key Takeaways

• Tirzepatide, known as Zepbound and Mounjaro, can reduce blood pressure by more than 7.4 mm Hg, according to a new study.

• The study group only included people who have normal blood pressure. It’s not yet clear what the effect will be in people with uncontrolled hypertension.

• The new data adds to the growing evidence that treating obesity with drugs can improve heart health and other health outcomes.

Eli Lilly’s weight loss medication, tirzepatide, significantly lowered blood pressure in people with obesity who took the drug for about eight months, according to a new study.

Tirzepatide is sold under the brand name Zepbound to treat obesity and under Mounjaro to treat type 2 diabetes. The new data comes as drugmakers study whether the new class of obesity drugs, including Zepbound and Wegovy, carry health benefits beyond weight loss.

Last year, a large clinical trial supported by Lilly showed that tirzepatide could help people lower their blood pressure based on readings taken at doctor’s offices.

In a paper published in Hypertension on Monday, researchers took a more rigorous approach: they analyzed a group of nearly 500 study participants taking tirzepatide whose blood pressure was measured with a 24-hour monitor.

The participants were divided into three groups, each of which took a different dose of the drug. Over 36 weeks, participants’ systolic blood pressure dropped by 7.4–10.6 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) compared to a placebo. Those taking the 10-milligram dose saw the greatest benefit.

Related: Xenical to Zepbound: How Anti-Obesity Drugs Have Evolved in 25 Years

Higher levels of systolic blood pressure often indicate heart disease risk.

However, the analysis didn’t study how well tirzepatide works to manage hypertension (high blood pressure). The study group only included people with normal blood pressure—under 140/90 mm Hg.

Because of the size and make-up of the study population, it’s too soon to draw conclusions about how tirzepatide may compare to blood pressure medications for people with hypertension, said Christopher Thompson, MD, director of endoscopy at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and cofounder of the weight loss company Bariendo.

“It’s nice to see some weight loss-associated improvement in blood pressure,” Thompson told Verywell. “But you can’t say this improves hypertension. It improves normal blood pressure. That’s really the take-home message here.”

What Your Blood Pressure Numbers Mean

Your blood pressure reading is comprised of two numbers: your systolic blood pressure (the top number), and your diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number). Your systolic blood pressure is the force against your arteries when your heart beats, pushing blood out to your organs and tissues. Ideal systolic blood pressure should be less than 120. Your diastolic blood pressure is the remaining tension in your arteries while your heart is at rest between beats. Ideally, it should be less than 80.

Did Tirzepatide or Weight Loss Lower Blood Pressure?

Controlled blood pressure is just one potential benefit of weight loss. For someone with obesity, losing even 5% of one’s body weight can reduce the risk of developing diabetes and heart disease, improve liver function and sleep, and lower cholesterol levels.

People who take tirzepatide can lose on average 18% of body weight, according to the clinical trial that led the FDA to approve the drug for obesity treatment.

The new study included people who took hypertension medications consistently for at least three months. Tirzepatide reduced blood pressure for the participants regardless of whether they were on hypertension medications or not.

Thompson said the outcomes in this study, while meaningful, don’t hint at anything more than the positive effects of weight loss. It’s unlikely that there are any “hidden mechanisms” that make tirzepatide work as a blood pressure medication, he added.

Those who took 5 mg and 10 mg doses of tirzepatide had drops in diastolic blood pressure by 2 mm Hg and 2.9 mm Hg compared to placebo, respectively. But those on the 15 mg dose saw no significant drop in that blood pressure reading. That doesn’t necessarily mean that high doses of tirzepatide will be poor at helping people manage diastolic blood pressure—the study is too small to draw that conclusion, Thompson said.

"This study also highlights that treating obesity isn’t about losing weight, but it’s about gaining health."

Angela Fitch, MD

How Weight Loss Drugs Can Be Good for the Heart

Tirzepatide’s competitor, semaglutide, sold as Wegovy for obesity and Ozempic for type 2 diabetes, was shown to improve heart health in a large study published last year.

The new blood pressure study suggests that tirzepatide may similarly improve heart health, said Angela Fitch, MD, president of the Obesity Medicine Association and chief medical officer at knownwell.

Many patients with overweight or obesity also have high blood pressure. Fitch said that when those patients start a weight loss treatment, their providers frequently tell them to stop taking hypertension medications so that their blood pressure doesn’t drop too low. Having data about how obesity treatment affects other health outcomes can help providers to offer more holistic care, she said.

“This study also highlights that treating obesity isn’t about losing weight, but it’s about gaining health,” Fitch told Verywell in an email. “Improving our cardiovascular health is important to many patients and having more ways of doing it is needed. Patients deserve access to comprehensive obesity care to improve their health and quality of life, not just access to a medication for weight loss.”

Read Next: You Can Now Get This Weight Loss Medication Directly From the Manufacturer

What This Means for You

Tirzepatide may work to control blood pressure because it causes people to lose weight. Talk to a trusted health provider about which blood pressure and weight management regimens will work best for you.

Read the original article on Verywell Health.