Tirzepatide Demonstrates Consistent 20%+ Weight Loss Across All Female Reproductive Stages

New York, NY – Tirzepatide, a dual GIP and GLP-1 receptor agonist, has shown consistent efficacy in achieving significant weight loss in women, regardless of their reproductive stage or use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or contraception. This finding stems from a post-hoc analysis of the SURMOUNT clinical trial program, co-authored by Dr. Beverly G. Tchang, an endocrinologist at NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine.

The research addresses a key question in women's health, as there has been prior uncertainty regarding the effectiveness of weight-loss medications during the perimenopausal and postmenopausal stages, a period often associated with weight gain and metabolic changes. Dr. Tchang highlighted this in a recent social media post, stating, "👉 Tirzepatide achieves ≥20% #weightloss on average regardless of reproductive stage 👉 This effect was NOT modified by the exposure to hormone replacement therapy (HRT)/contraception."

The analysis, published in Obesity (Silver Spring) in May 2025, utilized data from women participants in the SURMOUNT-1, SURMOUNT-3, and SURMOUNT-4 trials. Participants were retrospectively categorized into premenopausal, perimenopausal, and postmenopausal stages to evaluate the impact of reproductive status on treatment outcomes.

Results from SURMOUNT-1 indicated that women in the premenopause group experienced a 26% body weight reduction, while perimenopausal and postmenopausal women saw reductions of 23% each, compared to 2-3% in the placebo groups. These significant reductions were observed across all stages, with 97-98% of tirzepatide-treated participants achieving at least 5% weight loss. Similar outcomes were reported in SURMOUNT-3 and SURMOUNT-4.

Beyond overall weight loss, tirzepatide also led to substantial reductions in waist circumference, a key indicator of central adiposity, which is particularly relevant during menopause. Women treated with tirzepatide achieved reductions of 20-22 cm in waist circumference, alongside improvements in waist-to-height ratio, an important metric for cardiometabolic health.

Dr. Tchang emphasized the clinical implications, noting that "Clinicians prescribing tirzepatide can feel more confident recommending this medication to their patients, especially women reporting menopause-related weight gain." The safety profile observed in the analysis was consistent with previous findings, with gastrointestinal side effects being the most common, generally mild, and occurring primarily during dose escalation.