Suddenly everyone is talking about semaglutide. The drug, sold under the brand names Ozempic and Wegovy, was originally developed for people with diabetes and has been used to lower blood sugar levels in millions of people since 2017.
Researchers found that many patients who took the drug also lost weight, and have since studied its ability to help overweight and obese people.
Semaglutide mimics a hormone called “GLP-1” (glucagon-like peptide 1) that is produced by the body when we eat and tells our brain that we are full. The drug tricks the brain into thinking we’ve eaten enough, which reduces our appetite and prevents us from consuming more calories.
The latest results from the study, dubbed “Effect of Treatment with Semaglutide in Obese People,” or STEP for short, were published in the journal last week. obesity, and focus on the subjective experience of patients taking the drug. But first, let’s look at the most important, objective indicator: the impact on people’s weight.
In the study, 152 participants with a mean BMI above 38 (well above the obesity threshold) received a weekly dose of semaglutide, which is injected under the skin in areas of fatty deposits such as the abdomen or thighs, and 152 other participants. received a weekly placebo injection. Everyone had to follow a calorie-restricted diet and exercise. They were observed with regular weighings for two years.
The main conclusion, first published in the journal naturopathy Late last year, the group randomized to receive semaglutide lost 15.2 percent of their weight over a two-year period, compared to the placebo group, which lost only 2.6 percent.
This contributes to an increase in the number of research results. This study is the fifth in a series of randomized trials – it is STEP 5, with the first four STEPs to be published in 2021 – with impressive results. There are also four other, smaller studies that also came back positive. For the most part, the studies are high-quality, double-blind research material to ensure that neither patients nor their physicians knew whether they were receiving semaglutide or placebo in their injections.
In fact, the results are so impressive that many scientists working in this field have been surprised. Semaglutide caused almost twice the weight loss compared to previously available drugs (eg, orlistat, which does not change appetite, but prevents the body from absorbing fat from food). The only procedure that results in more weight loss – and it’s much more invasive – is bariatric surgery.
While it didn’t work for everyone (drugs almost always have so-called “non-responders”), semaglutide showed benefits in the vast majority of participants.
In this study, 77.1% of those who took semaglutide lost 5% or more of their body weight after two years, compared with 34.4% in the placebo group. And 36.1 percent of the semaglutide group lost more than 20 percent of their body weight—a feat no one in the placebo group achieved.
In a new report obesity, the researchers examined a subset of participants’ reports of how they thought about food during the study. Here, the data was much bleaker: they seem to have found that semaglutide reduces cravings for spicy, but not sugary foods.
Surprisingly, however, they did not use a standard statistical correction to reduce the chance of false positives—results that appear real but are in fact just the result of random hits. It is possible that the results they observed with respect to thrust were simply the result of random statistical noise.
Subjective psychological research will always be difficult – it is much more difficult to measure a person’s attitude with a questionnaire than to measure their weight on a scale. More psychological research needs to be done to show exactly how semaglutide works. And it would be unfair to let the poor statistics in psychological research distract us from the seemingly very solid main effect of weight loss.
What’s the catch? Aside from the seemingly minor side effects, mostly nausea, semaglutide has other downsides. First, those who stop taking the drug seem to regain the weight they lost, so it needs to be used consistently.
This leads to a second disadvantage: cost. Semaglutide is currently expensive: it is not yet available for weight loss on the NHS, with a recommended dose of £150 to £200 a week. If it is to be used indefinitely, it is quite expensive.
Third, during the trial, weight loss slowed by 15 percent, and after about a year, very little was lost. However, complaining about “only” a 15 percent weight loss from a drug seems extremely rude.
There is one last drawback, which is likely to be temporary. Now that we know that semaglutide works for both weight loss and diabetes, it has already become very popular and we are seeing semaglutide shortages in several countries. So it might be hard to figure it out at the moment. But once the shipping issues are sorted out, the results could be really good news for those struggling with their weight.
Source: I News
I’m Raymond Molina, a professional writer and journalist with over 5 years of experience in the media industry. I currently work for 24 News Reporters, where I write for the health section of their news website. In my role, I am responsible for researching and writing stories on current health trends and issues. My articles are often seen as thought-provoking pieces that provide valuable insight into the state of society’s wellbeing.