A diabetes remedy can also be a promising treatment for obesity In a new study, people who use the drug have lost 15% of their body weight, which is more than what has been seen with any other obesity on the market.
The drug, known as semaglutide, is an injectable medication that has already been approved to lower blood sugar levels in people with Type 2 diabetes. But the drug also suppresses appetite.
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In the new study, published Wednesday (February 10) in The New England Journal of Medicineresearchers randomly assigned 1,961 obese or overweight adults to receive semaglutide or a placebo as an injection 68 times a week. Participants also received counseling sessions once a month to help them follow a calorie-restricted diet, and they were encouraged to increase their physical activity.
At the end of the study, those who received semaglutide lost an average of 14.9% of their body weight, compared to just 2.4% of the bodyweight in the placebo group.
Five other drugs are approved for the treatment of obesity, but even the most effective of these drugs leads to about 7.5% weight loss, according to The New York Times. And these drugs can usually only be used for a short time, reports the Times. The weight loss drug phentermine, for example, is usually taken 3 to 6 weeks, according to the National Institute of Health, a much shorter time than the 68-week treatment with semaglutide used in the study.
“This is the beginning of a new era of effective treatments for obesity,” said Dr. Robert F. Kushner, an obesity researcher at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, who led the study, told the Times.
People taking semaglutide were more likely to experience gastrointestinal side effects, such as nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and constipation, compared with the placebo group. But these side effects tended to be temporary.
The study also did not look at the effects of the drug for more than 68 weeks, and people will likely have to stay on the drug for life to prevent their weight from returning, the Times reported.
And weight loss drugs that look good in trials may not be as effective in the real world, according to CNN. In addition, several weight-loss drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration were later recalled due to side effects, CNN reported.
The study was funded by semaglutide manufacturer Novo Nordisk. According to CNN, the Danish pharmaceutical company has already submitted an application to the FDA for approval of semaglutide for chronic weight management.
Originally published on Live Science.