A diabetes drug can also be a promising treatment obesity – In a new study, people taking the drug lost an astonishing 15% of their body weight, which is more than any other obesity drug on the market.
The drug, known as semaglutide, is an injectable drug already approved to control blood sugar in people with Type 2 diabetesBut the drug also suppresses appetite.
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In the new study, published Wednesday (Feb. 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 once weekly for 68 weeks. The participants also received counseling sessions once a month to help them stick to a low-calorie diet, and they were encouraged to exercise more.
By the end of the study, those taking semaglutide lost an average of 14.9% of their body weight, compared to only 2.4% of their body weight in the placebo group.
Five other drugs have been approved to treat obesity, but even the most effective of these drugs results in about 7.5% weight loss, according to The New York TimesAnd these drugs usually can only be used for a short time, the Times reported. For example, the weight-loss drug, phentermine, is usually taken for 3 to 6 weeks, according to the drug National Institutes of Health, a much shorter time than the 68-week semaglutide treatment 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, including nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and constipation, compared to the placebo group. But these side effects were usually temporary.
The study also did not look at the drug’s effects after 68 weeks, and people would likely need to stay on the drug for life to avoid regaining their weight, the Times reported.
And weight loss medications that seem to do well in trials may not be as effective in practice, according to CNNAdditionally, several weight loss medications approved by the Food and Drug Administration were later recalled due to side effects, CNN reported.
The study was funded by semaglutide maker Novo Nordisk. The Danish pharmaceutical company has already filed with the FDA for approval of semaglutide for chronic weight management, according to CNN.
Originally published on Live Science.