- A Mayo Clinic study found that postmenopausal women using menopausal hormone therapy lost about 35% more weight on tirzepatide than women taking tirzepatide alone.
- The result suggests a possible interaction between hormone therapy and GLP-1 based weight loss treatment.
- It was an observational study, so it cannot prove hormone therapy was the reason for the extra weight loss.
Researchers looked at 120 adults with overweight or obesity who had been treated with tirzepatide for at least 12 months.
They compared postmenopausal women who were also using hormone therapy with those who were not.
Women using both treatments lost significantly more weight on average.
The difference was around 35%, which is large enough to get attention.
- GLP-1 medicines: side effects, rare risks and what to monitor
- Weight loss surgery outperforms GLP-1 drugs in real-world use
There are a few possible explanations.
It may be that oestrogen enhances the appetite-suppressing effects of GLP-1 based medicines.
It is also possible that women using hormone therapy were already feeling better, sleeping better or staying more engaged with lifestyle changes.
That is why the study needs to be interpreted carefully.
Because this was not a randomised trial, it cannot show that hormone therapy directly caused the extra weight loss.
It also does not mean hormone therapy should be started purely as a weight loss add-on.
Hormone therapy has its own risks, benefits and suitability criteria.
Still, the study is interesting because it points towards a more personalised approach to obesity treatment in postmenopausal women.
It suggests menopause status and hormone treatment may matter more than many clinicians have assumed.
