Diabetes Drug may Help People With Obesity Lose Weight
Highlights:
- A compound in diabetes drug may result in weight loss.
- But this effect is seen only in people with obesity and not diabetes.
- This compound is semaglutide, a compound for glycemic control.
Glycemic control drug for weight loss
Semaglutide may help people with obesity. The compound, semaglutide, has a chemical structure that is very similar to the hormone glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), which regulates both insulin secretion and appetite. In December, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the semaglutide injection Ozempic as a once-weekly adjunct to diet and exercise to improve glycemic control in adults with type-2 diabetes.
"This randomized study of weight loss induced with semaglutide in people with obesity but without diabetes has shown the highest weight reductions yet seen for any pharmaceutical intervention," said lead author Patrick M. O'Neil, Ph.D., Director of the Weight Management Center and Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, S.C.
‘According to this study, the compound semaglutide which is used for glycemic control in adults with type-2 diabetes may help people with obesity lose weight.’
Obesity and not diabetes
The new study included 957 participants, 35 percent of whom were male. All participants had a body mass index (BMI) of at least 30, but did not have diabetes. They were randomly assigned to seven different groups. Five groups received different doses of semaglutide (between 0.05 mg and 0.4 mg) via injection once daily; a sixth group received a placebo, and a seventh group received 3 mg of the diabetes drug liraglutide. All participants received monthly diet and exercise counseling.
After one year, all participants receiving semaglutide had lost significantly more weight than those receiving placebo. The higher the dose participants received, the greater their average weight loss. Participants who received 0.05 mg of semaglutide daily lost an average of 6.0 percent of their body weight; the 0.1 mg group lost an average of 8.6 percent; the 0.3 mg group lost an average of 11.2 percent; and those receiving a daily dose of 0.4 mg lost an average of 13.8 percent. Those receiving liraglutide lost an average of 7.8 percent of their body weight, while those in the placebo group lost only 2.3 percent on average.
Sixty five percent of participants who received 0.4 mg of semaglutide per day lost at least 10 percent of their body weight, compared with 10 percent of those in the placebo group and 34 percent of the liraglutide group.
The most common adverse events in those taking semaglutide were mild/moderate nausea, as seen previously with GLP-1 receptor agonists.
O'Neil noted that further studies of semaglutide for obesity are underway.
References:
- ENDO 2018: The Endocrine Society's 100th Annual Meeting & Expo - ( https:www.endocrine.org/)
-
APA
Chrisy Ngilneii. (2018, March 19). Diabetes Drug may Help People With Obesity Lose Weight. Medindia. Retrieved on Dec 21, 2024 from https://www.medindia.net/news/healthwatch/diabetes-drug-may-help-people-with-obesity-lose-weight-177984-1.htm.
MLA
Chrisy Ngilneii. "Diabetes Drug may Help People With Obesity Lose Weight". Medindia. Dec 21, 2024. <https://www.medindia.net/news/healthwatch/diabetes-drug-may-help-people-with-obesity-lose-weight-177984-1.htm>.
Chicago
Chrisy Ngilneii. "Diabetes Drug may Help People With Obesity Lose Weight". Medindia. https://www.medindia.net/news/healthwatch/diabetes-drug-may-help-people-with-obesity-lose-weight-177984-1.htm. (accessed Dec 21, 2024).
Harvard
Chrisy Ngilneii. 2018. Diabetes Drug may Help People With Obesity Lose Weight. Medindia, viewed Dec 21, 2024, https://www.medindia.net/news/healthwatch/diabetes-drug-may-help-people-with-obesity-lose-weight-177984-1.htm.
Source: Eurekalert
Cite this Article ⇣⇡
Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report: