Research

Hormonal

Tirzepatide (TZP) produces significantly greater weight loss than semaglutide (SEM) in patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs), with TZP users losing 8.2% of body weight compared to 5.8% for SEM users at 12 months.

If you have a rheumatic condition and are using GLP-1 medications, Tirzepatide is associated with greater weight loss than Semaglutide. In this large study, Tirzepatide users lost 8.2% of their body weight at 12 months, compared to 5.8% for Semaglutide users. This benefit was observed even in patients with mobility limitations, suggesting that pharmacological intervention can overcome some barriers to weight loss in this population.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
At 12 months, SEM and TZP users lost 5.8% and 8.2% of body weight, respectively. TZP users lost 2.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.9–2.5) more weight than SEM users
Nicholas McCormick et al. · ACR Open Rheumatology · 2026

Why this rating

Large-scale real-world observational registry (n=60,198) with robust statistical adjustment, though not a randomized controlled trial.

Source

Use of Semaglutide and Tirzepatide in Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases: Insights on Initiation Patterns and Weight Loss From the Rheumatology Informatics System for Effectiveness Registry

Nicholas McCormick et al. · ACR Open Rheumatology · 2026

DOI 10.1002/acr2.90068

cohort · n=60198
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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