In an international phase 3A clinical trial, obese adolescents who received once-weekly semaglutide compared with a placebo had a 16.1 percent reduction in their body mass index (BMI), compared with those who took the placebo. There was an increase of 0.6 percent.
Overweight and obese people often worry about losing weight even with a good diet and physical workout program. The amount of regular exercise that is needed for weight loss becomes more of a task for people who are overweight or obese than for those who do not have much body weight.
To make the process easier for people who are overweight or obese, a new study has shown that a drug called 'semaglutide' helps teens lose weight and have a healthy heart. According to news agency ANI, it also reported that the drug has been approved for adults who are obese or overweight.
In an international phase 3A clinical trial, obese adolescents who received once-weekly semaglutide compared with a placebo had a 16.1 percent reduction in their body mass index (BMI), compared with those who took the placebo. There was an increase of 0.6 percent.
Silva Arslanian, senior author, M.D., professor of pediatrics and clinical and translational sciences who works with Richard L. in Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Day Ended Chair, said obesity rates are on the rise, not just in the US, but across the world, as per the ANI report.
"Usually, we make lifestyle recommendations: eat more vegetables; don't eat fried foods; don't drink soda. But unfortunately, we live in a very obesogenic environment, so it can be very hard to make those changes. There is a real need for safe and effective drugs to treat obesity," said the senior author.
Obesity affects approximately one in five children and adolescents worldwide. This chronic disease is associated with a reduction in life expectancy and a higher risk of developing serious health problems such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, sleep apnea and certain cancers.
Teens who are obese are also more likely to have depression, anxiety, poor self-esteem and other psychological issues.
How does Semaglutide work?
Semaglutide is an obesity drug that mimics a hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1 to target areas of the brain that decrease appetite and improve control of eating. The drug was approved in 2021 for chronic weight management in obese or overweight adults.
To assess whether semaglutide is also effective in youth, researchers enrolled 201 adolescents aged 12 to 18 years with obesity or overweight at several centers.
Participants received subcutaneous injections of either semaglutide 2.4 mg or placebo once a week, and all received a concurrent lifestyle intervention -- counseling on healthy nutrition and physical activity -- throughout the trial.
After 68 weeks, 72.5% of semaglutide participants had lost at least 5% of their weight, compared to only 17% on placebo.
"The results are surprising," said Arslanian, who is director of the Center for Pediatric Clinical and Translational Research and the scientific director of the Center for Pediatric Research in Obesity and Metabolism at Pitt and UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.
"For a person who is 5 feet, 5 inches tall and weighs 240 pounds, an average reduction in BMI equates to losing about 40 pounds," Arslanian said.
What are the consequences of the drug Semaglutide?
The analysis showed that semaglutide participants had improvements in cardiovascular risk factors including waist circumference, a blood sugar metric called HbA1c, total, low-density and very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides and liver enzymes. Study quoted by ANI.
However, there was no statistically significant difference in blood pressure or high-density lipoprotein cholesterol between the two groups.
Participants who took semaglutide had better weight-related quality of life, mostly due to an increase in physical comfort scores, than their placebo peers.
The researchers note that this is the first obesity drug to be associated with such an improvement in quality of life in adolescents.
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