Tirzepatide uses: what this medicine is actually approved to treat

The two licensed indications: weight management and type 2 diabetes

Tirzepatide, sold in the UK under the brand name Mounjaro, holds two separate UK licences. The first covers weight management — specifically, helping adults with obesity reduce and maintain body weight alongside a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity. The second covers glycaemic control in type 2 diabetes, where tirzepatide improves blood-sugar regulation in people who have not achieved adequate control with other medicines.

These are not interchangeable. A person using tirzepatide for diabetes may be prescribed a different dose, follow a different clinical pathway, and have different monitoring in place compared with someone using it for weight management. Both uses are approved by the MHRA, and both are described in detail in the NHS tirzepatide medicines page, which is worth reading if you want the patient-level overview before your consultation.

The mechanism behind both uses is the same: tirzepatide mimics two naturally occurring gut hormones, GIP and GLP-1. By activating both receptors, it slows how quickly the stomach empties, increases feelings of fullness after eating, and helps the body manage blood glucose more efficiently. If you'd like a broader introduction to tirzepatide and how it works, our dedicated page covers the science in plain language. Whether that dual action translates into a meaningful difference for any individual is a clinical question, the answer depends on their health conditions, current medications, and what they're trying to achieve, and our page on how you use tirzepatide in practice is a helpful place to understand what following the treatment actually involves.

What the weight-management licence actually requires, and why that shapes your options

To be eligible for tirzepatide's weight-management indication, you need to be an adult with a BMI of 30 or above, or a BMI of 27 to 29.9 alongside at least one weight-related condition. Qualifying conditions include type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, raised cholesterol, obstructive sleep apnoea, and prediabetes, among others. Lower BMI thresholds apply for some ethnic backgrounds under UK clinical guidance, and a prescriber will factor this in during assessment.

NICE's recommendation (TA1026, published December 2024 and updated September 2025) sets tighter criteria for NHS access: a BMI of 35 or above plus at least one qualifying comorbidity, with phased rollout extending to additional groups through 2026 and 2027. Private prescribing through a regulated pharmacy follows the licensed indication directly, which is broader. That distinction matters if you're comparing your options on the Mounjaro overview page.

One thing worth knowing: eligibility isn't decided by BMI alone. A prescriber reviews the whole picture, your current health conditions, any medicines you already take, your history, and any contraindications. Medullary thyroid carcinoma or multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 in your personal or family history, for example, would make tirzepatide unsuitable. A history of pancreatitis requires careful discussion. Pregnancy, breastfeeding, and trying to conceive are all situations where tirzepatide is not recommended. Under-18s are outside the licensed indication entirely.

Uses that are sometimes assumed but aren't supported by the licence

Tirzepatide has attracted considerable interest beyond its two licensed indications. Cardiovascular outcomes, fatty liver disease, kidney function, these are areas of active research, and early data from some trials look promising. But none of those uses currently hold a UK licence for tirzepatide. The MHRA approves a medicine for specific, evidence-backed indications; prescribing outside those boundaries is not appropriate through a regulated private pharmacy. If you've read about tirzepatide being used for other purposes in press coverage, it's worth separating what trials have explored from what is actually approved for use in the UK today.

Similarly, tirzepatide is not licensed for cosmetic weight loss, the MHRA has been explicit that GLP-1 medicines are not assessed or approved for quick or cosmetic purposes. The weight-management indication exists for adults with clinical obesity or excess weight combined with a health condition, not for people seeking to lose a small amount of weight for aesthetic reasons. If your BMI and health situation meet the licensed criteria, the medicine may well be appropriate; if they don't, a prescriber at a properly regulated service will tell you so.

For a fuller picture of the range of mounjaro uses that are clinically recognised and licensed, our dedicated page sets out both indications clearly alongside the evidence behind them. Separately, if you're still deciding between the available licensed options, reading about the relationship between Mounjaro and tirzepatide can help clarify the terminology before you speak to a prescriber.

Making the decision: how a clinical assessment resolves this

If you're asking about tirzepatide's uses, you're probably at the stage of deciding whether to seek a consultation. That's the right order of operations. The licensed indications set the boundaries; the prescriber determines whether you sit within them and whether the medicine is safe given everything else going on with your health.

At nume, every consultation is read by a GPhC-registered Independent Prescriber, a real clinician, same day, not a piece of software routing your answers to a rubber stamp. If clinically suitable, treatment is dispatched the same day for orders placed before midday on weekdays and delivered free the next working day (that includes orders placed the Monday after a bank holiday weekend, so timing around holidays is rarely the barrier people expect). Treatment pricing is set out transparently on the weight-loss treatments page, where you can also check your eligibility and start a free consultation.

The NICE tirzepatide appraisal (TA1026) is publicly available and covers both the clinical evidence and the NHS eligibility pathway in full, worth reading if you want the technical detail before you decide. Our page on tirzepatide licensing in the UK also explains how the MHRA approval process works and what it means for your access to treatment. For everything else, our prescribers are the right people to ask.