By Oisin Sweeney • Published: 11 Feb 2021 • 9:49
Semgaglutide stimulates the sensation of having eaten a filling meal - Image Source: Pixabay
EXPERTS believe that a new drug could be a game-changer in tackling obesity after a successful trial saw participants make major weight losses.
Semaglutide – a drug that is already used to treat Type II diabetics – could be a game-changer in tackling the world’s rising obesity problem after a successful trial of 2000 patients saw many make “effortless” weight losses.
The drug simulates a hormone – GLP1 – that creates the sensation in users of having eaten a filling meal. Combined with a diet and exercise regime, the average trial participant lost one-fifth of their body weight giving hope to experts that the drug could help obese people worldwide.
Jan, a trial participant from Kent, told the BBC that it “felt effortless” to lose weight while being administered semaglitude once a week. She said that previous diets had made her “miserable” and that the drug had suppressed her desire to overeat.
Despite the successful weight-loss results, side-effects of the drug include nausea, diarrhea, constipation, and vomiting. Experts hope that with further research and advancements, semaglutide could be rolled out with fewer defects.
Prof Sir Stephen O’Rahilly, from the University of Cambridge, said: “This is the start of a new era for obesity drug development with the future direction being to achieve levels of weight loss comparable to semaglutide, while having fewer side-effects.”
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Oisin is an Irish writer based in Seville, the sunny capital of Andalucia. After starting his working life as a bookseller, he moved into journalism and cut his teeth as a reporter at one of Ireland's biggest news websites. Since joining Euro Weekly News in November, he has enjoyed covering the latest stories from Seville, Spain and further afield - with special interests in crime, cybersecurity, and European politics. Anyone who can pronounce his name first try gets a free cerveza...
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