|
|
About 13 percent of the world’s adults, and 20 percent of children, are obese, according to the WHO, with obesity causing 8 percent of human deaths annually.
The cost of caring for obese people, from treating diabetes and heart disease to replacing knees, coupled with value of productivity lost to the global economy, is estimated in the hundreds of billions of dollars every year.
Researchers at University College London could make much of that trouble disappear with a pill – at least in theory.
Scientists there worked with a drug called semaglutide. At doses of 1 mg, it treats diabetes. When the researchers upped the dose to 2.4 mg, they found that three-quarters of obese people taking the pill lost 10 percent of their body weight and 35 percent lost 20 percent or more, the equivalent of a 300-pound adult settling down to a more comfortable 240.
The drug mimics, or perhaps accelerates the body’s production of, a peptide called GLP-1. The peptide enters the bloodstream after a meal and tells the brain that the stomach has enough food in it.
In the trial, the drug dulled the sense of hunger so people ate less and the weight came off naturally.
Some study participants reported nausea or diarrhea, both of which cleared up shortly without medical intervention.
The research tested the treatment on 1,961 overweight or obese people across 16 countries in Asia, Europe, and North and South America.
The study was a Phase 3 clinical trial, meaning that regulators could approve semaglutide as an obesity treatment in short order.
TRENDPOST: “Dieting” often is a grim struggle of the will. Semaglutide relieves that tension and lets the body control hunger without the clenched teeth and without the side effects of weight-loss drugs, which can range from dizziness to dry mouth or worse.
The drug also is likely to have a knock-on effect. Studies show that people hoping to lose weight often are discouraged by how long it takes to lose the first increment of extra pounds. By jump-starting the process, semaglutide could kindle the motivation needed to continue.