New Injection Helps Weight Loss In Obese And Diabetic Patients Study Finds
The jab, which mimics the effect of gastric bypass surgery, reduces appetite, causes weight loss and helps sugar absorption.
Wednesday 7 August 2019 18:03, UK
A new weight-loss injection helped overweight and diabetic patients lose an average of 10lbs in just four weeks, a study has found.
The jab, which is a mixture of three hormones, mimics the effect of having gastric bypass surgery.
Previous research by Imperial College London suggested that one of the reasons the bypass worked well was because it caused the bowel to release three hormones in higher levels.
The combination, dubbed GOP, reduces appetite, causes weight loss and improves the body’s sugar absorption.
Lead author Tricia Tan, Professor of Practice at ICL and lead author of the study, said: “Although this is a small study, our new combination hormone treatment is promising and has shown significant improvements in patients’ health in only four weeks.
“Compared to other methods the treatment is non-invasive and reduced glucose levels to near-normal levels in our patients.
“This result shows that it is possible to obtain some of the benefits of a gastric bypass operation without undergoing the surgery itself.
How Does Phentermine Work
Unlike Ozempic, phentermine has stimulating effects. It works by stimulating your central nervous system, which influences chemicals in your brain to make you think that youre full.
Youll typically take it an hour or two after eating breakfast in the morning, and itll work to help curb your appetite over the course of the day. For example, taking one 30 mg capsule daily has been shown to lessen your appetite for 12 to 14 hours.
Ozempic For Type 2 Diabetes
Ozempic is FDA-approved to improve blood sugar levels in adults with type 2 diabetes. Ozempic can be used alone or in combination with other diabetes medications.
Effectiveness for type 2 diabetes
Ozempic has been found to be effective for treating type 2 diabetes. For information on how Ozempic performed in clinical studies, see the drugs prescribing information.
Guidelines by the American Diabetes Association recommend using a GLP-1 agonist, such as Ozempic, in adults with type 2 diabetes who also have one of the following conditions:
- cardiovascular disease or are at high risk for developing CVD
- kidney disease
- heart failure
These same guidelines also recommend using a drug such as Ozempic as an option for treating people with type 2 diabetes in whom metformin doesnt lower their blood sugar enough.
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How To Use Saxenda
Your doctor or pharmacist will have given you advice on how to use your medicine. Carefully follow all the directions. They may differ from the information contained in this leaflet.
If you do not understand the instructions, ask your doctor, nurse or pharmacist for help.
Your doctor will start you on a diet and exercise programme. Stay on this programme while you are using Saxenda®.
Saxenda® is supplied as a pre-filled pen containing liraglutide. The Saxenda® pen can give doses of 0.6 mg, 1.2 mg, 1.8 mg, 2.4 mg or 3.0 mg.
What Is The Most Important Information I Should Know About Saxenda
Serious side effects may happen in people who take Saxenda®, including:
Possible thyroid tumors, including cancer. Tell your health care professional if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, hoarseness, trouble swallowing, or shortness of breath. These may be symptoms of thyroid cancer. In studies with rats and mice, Saxenda® and medicines that work like Saxenda® caused thyroid tumors, including thyroid cancer. It is not known if Saxenda® will cause thyroid tumors or a type of thyroid cancer called medullary thyroid carcinoma in people.
Do not use Saxenda® if you or any of your family have ever had MTC, or if you have an endocrine system condition called Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia syndrome type 2 .
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Drug Forms And Strengths
Ozempic comes as a pen that you use to self-inject the medication.
There are two different Ozempic pens. Both contain 2 mg/1.5 mL of the drug, but the pens are designed to give different doses. Both pens can be used multiple times. However, the number of times a pen can be used depends on which pen youre using:
- One pen delivers 0.25 mg or 0.5 mg per injection. When you first start taking Ozempic, youll use this pen. Each of these pens can be used four to six times.
- The other pen delivers 1 mg per injection. Youll use this pen If you need a higher dose to control your blood sugar levels. Each of these pens can only be used twice.
Each Ozempic pen comes with several needles. Youll use a new needle each time you give yourself an injection.
Ozempic pens should never be shared with other people.
Heres Who Shouldnt Take Wegovy
Wegovy should not be used with other drugs used for weight loss or medications that contain semaglutide, according to the FDA.
Wegovy has a potential risk of thyroid C-cell tumors and should also not be given to people with a personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma and Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia syndrome type 2 .
The drug has not been studied in people who have a history of pancreatitis.
The drug, at a dose of 1 mg, was first approved for type 2 diabetes in 2017.
Kanji plans to add Wegovy as a treatment option for certain patients with obesity especially those with type 2 diabetes.
The price is expected to be similar to Saxenda, which costs $1,349 a month without insurance.
As is often the case, cost and health insurance coverage will be the limiting factor, said Kanji.
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Whats New In Medications For Weight Management For People With Diabetes
Weight loss can prevent, delay, or reverse type 2 diabetes, but it can be very hard to achieve and maintain. Thats why the approval of semaglutide to treat obesity is causing such excitement.
The diabetes medication semaglutide was recently approved to treat obesity, and other potentially effective obesity medications are in the pipeline. Susan Z. Yanovski, MD, discusses the critical need for effective ways to treat and manage weight for people with diabetes. She also describes semaglutide and other new medications that could make weight loss more feasible for more people with type 2 diabetesif barriers to their use can be overcome.
Q: How are overweight and obesity linked to type 2 diabetes?
A:Overweight and obesity are strong risk factors for type 2 diabetes. About 80% of adults with type 2 diabetes also have overweight or obesity. Greater levels of obesity confer higher risk for the disease.
In type 2 diabetes, both insulin resistance and reduced pancreatic beta cell function lead to elevated blood glucose. Insulin resistance is very common in people with obesity, who frequently develop impaired glucose tolerance and prediabetes before the diabetes developssometimes years beforehand. In fact, almost 35% of U.S. adults have prediabetes. Eventually their beta cells cant keep up with the increased demand to maintain healthy blood glucose levels in the target range, and they develop diabetes.
Do Injectables Cause Weight Loss Weight Gain
Unlike insulin and other antidiabetic drugs, injectables dont cause weight gain.
Because they decrease appetite, they may even contribute to weight loss in the range of 3.3 pounds to 6.6 pounds . The amount of weight loss depends on multiple factors, such as:
- diet
- exercise
- use of other medications
Because of this, GLP-1 RAs are well suited for people who are overweight or have obesity. Theyre often used in combination with other drugs or insulin to mitigate weight gain.
GLP-1 RAs are available in prefilled pens that you administer yourself, in much the same way as insulin. They differ by dosage and duration of action.
There are currently no comparative trials that show how choice of medication affects long-term patient outcomes.
Your doctor will usually start you off with a low dosage. This will be gradually increased according to tolerance and desired effect.
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Review All Medications With A Healthcare Professional
When starting a new medication, its important to review all current medications with a healthcare professional such as the prescribing doctor or a pharmacist. This includes meds that are prescriptions, over-the-counter, and supplements. With Ozempic, this is especially important as there are dose adjustments that may need to occur while using it with insulin or sulfonylureas .
Get The Saxenda Patient Brochure
Whether you’re considering weight-loss treatment or already taking Saxenda®, our patient brochure can help you learn more about what to expect.
Print or activate your Saxenda® Savings Card and gain instant access to SaxendaCare®.
Already activated your Saxenda® Savings Card, but havent enrolled in SaxendaCare® yet?
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Use Caution When Drinking Alcohol
While Ozempic isnt known to interact with alcohol, consuming excess amounts of alcohol can lower blood sugar. For people with diabetes, monitoring low blood sugar is important to prevent symptoms of hypoglycemia .
Additionally, Ozempic may increase the risk for pancreatitis . Heavy alcohol consumption can also increase the chance of pancreatitis. In order to help avoid pancreatitis, heavy alcohol use should be avoided while taking Ozempic.
How Does Saxenda Work
Saxenda is a self-injectable prescription medication that’s similar to the human hormone , which regulates hunger. It works by helping to suppress your appetite, which can lead to you consuming fewer calories.
It can be prescribed to people with a body mass index of 30 or more, or people with a BMI of 2729 with weight-related conditions, such as prediabetes, type-2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or sleep apnoea.
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What It Looks Like
Saxenda® is supplied as a clear and colourless solution for injection in a pre-filled pen. Each pen contains 3 mL of solution, and is able to deliver doses of 0.6 mg, 1.2 mg, 1.8 mg, 2.4 mg or 3.0 mg.
Saxenda® is available in packs containing 1, 3 or 5 pens. Not all pack sizes may be marketed.
Needles are not included.
Frequently Asked Questions About Wegovy
What is the difference between Wegovy , Ozempic , and Rybelsus ?
Wegovy , Ozempic , and Rybelsus all contain semaglutide, but they are used for different conditions. Wegovy is used for weight loss, whereas Ozempic and Rybelsus are used for type 2 diabetes. Like Wegovy , Ozempic is also an injection, but the dose is much lower for diabetes. Rybelsus is a tablet that is taken by mouth. Like other GLP-1 agonists, semaglutide can also lower blood sugar levels by affecting the release of insulin and glucagon, two natural hormones in your body that regulate blood sugar levels.
How much weight can you lose with Wegovy ?
After about 1 year , people who took the maintenance dose of Wegovy along with a lower-calorie diet and exercise lost an average of 10% to 16% of their starting body weight compared to those following a lower-calorie diet and exercise plan only.
How do you use Wegovy ?
What should you do if you forget to take Wegovy ?
If your next scheduled dose of Wegovy is more than 2 days away, take the medication as soon as possible. If your next scheduled dose is less than 2 days away, wait until your regularly scheduled day of the week to take Wegovy .
What should you do if you forget to put Wegovy in the refrigerator?
Can you take Wegovy if you’re pregnant?
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Who Cannot Be Prescribed Semaglutide
Semaglutide should NOT be used in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus or for the treatment of diabetic ketoacidosis. Semaglutide is not a substitute for insulin. Semaglutide is currently not licenced for management of obesity .
Semaglutide is not recommended in patients with heart failure New York Heart Association class IV.
Acute pancreatitis or inflammation of pancreas has been observed with the use of GLP-1 receptor agonists. Symptoms of acute pancreatitis include abdominal pain, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting. Seek urgent help if pancreatitis is suspected or go to the nearest A& E.
If pancreatitis is suspected, discontinue Semaglutide immediately if confirmed, Semaglutide should not be restarted.
Patients treated with Semaglutide or any GLP-1 analogue in combination with a sulfonylurea or insulin may have an increased risk of hypoglycaemia . The risk can be lowered by reducing the dose of sulfonylurea like gliclazide or insulin, when initiating treatment with GLP-1 analogue.
Women of childbearing potential are recommended to use contraception when treated with
Ozempic and therefore, Ozempic should not be used during pregnancy as there is no data on its safety in pregnancy.
Semaglutide For Weight Loss
Recent research shows that Semaglutide is an effective medication for weight loss.
Semaglutide however has not yet been licensed for obesity. Semaglutide can be used for weight loss in people with type 2 diabetes and trade name is Ozempic. Once the licence for Semagalutide for weight loss is available the trade name would be different and would not be called Ozempic.
STEP1: Study on Semglaglutide
STEP1 study was recently published in the journal The New England Journal of Medicine titled Once-Weekly Semaglutide in Adults with Overweight or Obesity, authored by Professor John Wilding, Professor Rachel Batterham and other co-authors.
Semaglutide Treatment Effect in People with obesity programme is to investigate the effect of Semaglutide compared to placebo on weight loss, safety, and tolerability in adults with obesity or overweight. STEP1 is the first of the trial, which has shown that injection Semgalutide 2.4mg once a week is an effective weight loss medication. Over a 68 week period, Semaglutide injection given once a week, resulted in about 15% weight loss compared to the people who received placebo .
Ozempic, which is Semgalutide licenced for type 2 diabetes is used in a much smaller dose compared to that used in this study for weight loss.
This study has generated lot of interest following publications in several tabloids and the BBC website. As mentioned above this medication has not yet been licensed for obesity by the company Novo Nordisk.
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Is Ozempic An Insulin
No, Ozempic is not an insulin. Ozempic belongs to a class of drugs called glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists. It works in people with diabetes by increasing the amount of insulin your body makes when blood sugar levels are high.
Taking too much of this medication can increase your risk of serious side effects.
What Is Saxenda
Saxenda® injection 3 mg is an injectable prescription medicine used for adults with excess weight who also have weight-related medical problems or obesity , and children aged 12-17 years with a body weight above 132 pounds and obesity to help them lose weight and keep the weight off. Saxenda® should be used with a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity.
- Saxenda® and Victoza® have the same active ingredient, liraglutide, and should not be used together or with other GLP-1 receptor agonist medicines.
- It is not known if Saxenda® is safe and effective when taken with other prescription, over-the-counter medicines, or herbal weight-loss products.
- It is not known if Saxenda® is safe and effective in children under 12 years of age.
- It is not known if Saxenda® is safe and effective in children aged 12 to 17 years with type 2 diabetes.
Please click here for Prescribing Information and Medication Guide for Saxenda®.
Saxenda® is a prescription medication.
You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch, or call 1-800-FDA-1088.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
Do not share your Saxenda® pen with others even if the needle has been changed. You may give other people a serious infection or get a serious infection from them.
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How To Use It
Before you use the pen for the first time, your doctor or nurse will show you how to use the pen.
- Saxenda® pre-filled pen is designed to be used with NovoFine® needles, up to a length of 8 mm. Needles are not included with the pen.
- Ask your doctor or nurse which needle width and length is best for you.
- Use a new needle for each injection and dispose of it after use.
- Saxenda® is given as an injection under the skin as shown to you by your doctor or nurse. Never inject Saxenda® into a vein or muscle.
- Saxenda® may be injected into the front of your waist , the front of your thigh, or your upper arm.
Checking your Saxenda® pen:Saxenda® should be clear and colourless.
Do not use this medicine if it is thickened, coloured, or has solid bits in it.
Read the instructions printed later in this leaflet carefully in order to prepare and handle your Saxenda® pen correctly.
Are There Any Dangerous Side Effects With Either Drug
When starting a new medication, it is important to understand the risks involved. Here are a few things that you should know.
Ozempic
In addition to common gastrointestinal side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, Ozempic carries a boxed warning about thyroid C-cell tumors occurring in rodents. And while the risk is unknown in humans, youll want to avoid taking Ozempic if you or if anyone in your family has a history of certain thyroid cancers.
There are a few other warnings and precautions, too. These include risks of pancreatitis, worsening of diabetes-related eye problems, kidney problems, and serious allergic reactions when using it for blood sugar control.
Keep in mind that Ozempic is not yet approved at the higher dose in people without diabetes, so the FDA hasnt made a determination regarding its safety and efficacy.
Phentermine
Phentermine, on the other hand, does not have any boxed warnings. But there have been rare cases of high blood pressure in the lungs and leaking heart valves . Both situations can be life-threatening.
These issues were first noted when phentermine was being used in combination with fenfluramine or dexfenfluramine. In 1997, the FDA removed fenfluramine and dexfenfluramine from the market due to safety concerns. Although rare, there have been a few reports of these issues also occurring in people who reported taking phentermine by itself.
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