Results from a scientific study have shown that "the diabetes drug dulaglutide significantly reduces the risk of weight gain after quitting smoking." The BMJ Nutrition Prevention & Health journal indicates that "255 individuals, including 155 women, with an average age of 42-44 years, who smoked an average of 20 cigarettes a day for 19-22 years, participated in this study to quit smoking." Researchers randomly divided the participants into two groups; members of the first group received the drug dulaglutide, while the second group received a placebo and the smoking cessation drug varenicline, along with support from a smoking cessation specialist for 12 weeks.
The researchers found that "women who took dulaglutide lost 1-2 kg of weight, while women in the second group gained 2-2.5 kg." Male participants in the first group gained just over 500 grams, whereas men in the second group gained 2 kg. They observed that "women in the second group gained weight approximately five times more than the men. This suggests that taking dulaglutide during smoking cessation may be particularly beneficial for them. Only 3 out of 56 men in the second group gained a little weight, while no man in the first group experienced any weight gain." However, the researchers emphasize the need for further research to determine the mechanism by which dulaglutide affects weight.
