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Semagglutide, a drug used to treat type 2 diabetes, has been found to help overweight and obese people lose, on average, 15% of their body weight over 68 weeks.
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Obesity has increased in the USA and increases the risk of death if infected with COVID-19.
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One participant regained weight after the trial ended.
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A drug used to treat type 2 diabetes has been discovered to help obese and overweight people lose more weight than any other drug on the market, according to a new study found.
Semagglutide, the drug used in the study, helps release insulin from the pancreas in patients with type 2 diabetes and is administered in doses of about 1 mg. It is sold under the brand name Ozempic and also suppresses appetite.
Northwestern University researchers have decided to determine whether semagglutide can reduce weight, as lifestyle changes and bariatric surgery do not always last long, and current drugs have side effects such as cancer risks.
Over 68 weeks, participants who received the drug lost, on average, almost 15% of their weight – a big difference from the members of the placebo group, who lost 2.4%.
What’s more, the study also found that a third of the participants who took semaglutide lost 20% of their weight.
The drug is a “game changer,” said Dr. Robert F. Kushner, author of the study and an obesity researcher at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, to the New York Times. “This is the beginning of a new era of effective treatments for obesity.”
Dr. Eduardo Grunvald, medical director of the UC San Diego Health weight control program, who was not involved in the study, said the results were “very exciting”.
“It is a major breakthrough in the field because we have never had a drug that demonstrates this degree of weight loss,” he told Insider.
Obesity has increased in the United States over the past 20 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The disease causes heart problems, some cancers and, more recently, increases the chance of hospitalizations and death if infected with COVID-19.
Participants regained weight after the trial ended, and some developed gallstones
In this study, participants were spread over 129 locations in 16 countries. Almost 2,000 participants received a weekly dose of 2.4 mg of semagglutide or placebo – 1,306 people received the drug and 655 people received the placebo. Both groups were on a 500-calorie-deficit diet and were encouraged to exercise for 150 minutes a week.
The study authors said that white women were overrepresented in the study, so it is unclear whether the drug would be as effective in other populations. Some side effects included nausea and diarrhea, which occurred more frequently in the group that took semaglutida. In addition, 23 people who took the drug developed gallstones, compared with four in the placebo group.
Because the test lasted only 68 weeks, it is not clear whether this drug will work in the long term, according to an editorial.
Qiana Mosely, a study participant who lost 18 pounds, told the New York Times that she was looking forward to using semagglutida again, as she regained her weight after the study ended. “I was so sad.”
If this drug is approved to treat obesity, Grunvald said that, depending on your insurance company, it may or may not be covered. Partly because some insurers see obesity as a lifestyle choice, not a disease.
Read the original article on Insider