If HIV patients keep taking tesamorelin for a full year, their dangerous belly fat drops by about 18% compared to when they started — but we don’t know how much better that is than just stopping the drug, because the placebo group didn’t stay on it for a year.
Scientific Claim
Tesamorelin (2 mg subcutaneous daily) causes a 18% reduction in visceral adipose tissue (VAT) over 12 months in HIV-infected adults on antiretroviral therapy who continue treatment, based on within-group change from baseline, but this is not a placebo-adjusted effect over the full 12 months.
Original Statement
“VAT was reduced by approximately 18% (P < 0.001) in patients continuing tesamorelin for 12 months.”
Evidence Quality Assessment
Claim Status
overstated
Study Design Support
Design supports claim
Appropriate Language Strength
definitive
Can make definitive causal claims
Assessment Explanation
The study design supports a within-group change claim, but the conclusion implies a placebo-adjusted 18% effect over 12 months, which is unsupported. The verb 'reduces' is definitive but misleading without context of lack of placebo comparison.
More Accurate Statement
“In HIV-infected adults on antiretroviral therapy with central fat accumulation, continuing tesamorelin (2 mg subcutaneous daily) for 12 months is associated with a 18% reduction in visceral adipose tissue from baseline, but this change is not directly compared to placebo over the full 12-month period.”
Evidence from Studies
Supporting (1)
The study found that HIV patients who took tesamorelin daily for a year lost about 18% of their dangerous belly fat, and when they stopped taking it, the fat came back — so the drug caused the loss, not just time or luck.