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New Diabetes Drugs Can Help Your Waistline, Says a Recent Study

Healthy Trends

Whether you agree or not, every medicine has a side-effect. And when it comes to diabetes drugs, it was proven a while back that they tend to add to your weight.

Read – ‘Fat but fit’ is a myth when it comes to heart health

Now when something that’s supposed to cure a condition seems to trigger off another condition, it puts medical experts in a pickle. Several tests are then conducted to find a solution, and that’s what has happened in the case of new-age medicines like GLP1-RA’s, SGLT2i’s, and Semaglutide.

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Unsplash | Studies have shown that new age diabetes medicines can help regulate body weight too

Recent studies have shown that these diabetes medicines help increase the production of insulin and seem to suppress the appetite. So, in effect, they’re eliminating the problems that the earlier classes of diabetes medicines used to create.

Allow us to shed more light on this.

The effect of Semaglutide on body weight

A research was done on 1,961 obese people to find the weight loss benefits of Semaglutide. While one-third of them were given a placebo and dietary and exercise counseling, the rest were given the drug and their existing diet and exercise plan.

The result was that the Semaglutide group’s people experienced 14.9% weight loss compared to 2.4% with the placebo group. People who took the drug lost nearly 15.3 kg or 33 pounds. However, they also reported experiencing nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, or constipation.

The reason why Semaglutide reduces weight is that it cuts down your appetite and decreases your energy intake. All and all it’s the result of direct and indirect effects of the drug on the brain.

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Unsplash | These drugs while controlling insulin levels also cut down on appetite and decrease energy intake

Its makers reported the weight loss benefit of Semaglutide on February 10, 2021. And now they’ve asked the US Food and Drug Administration to approve it for chronic weight management.

Read – The COVID-19 pandemic worsened an already dire childhood obesity epidemic

Loopholes of the study

Yes, the results of the study are encouraging. But as the researchers have found, there are many gray areas as well.

  • The demographics in the trial aren’t reflective of the US population. Most of the participants of the study were white. On the other hand, 40% of the US population is non-white.
  • These results haven’t been evaluated for long term efficacy.

Experts say that drugs like these are useful in rapid weight loss only for the people suffering from severe obesity, not for everyone.

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Reuters | But drugs like these are useful only for the people suffering from severe obesity

To sum it up

Despite having such effective medicines for diabetes, we still have poor control over the condition and its complications. But let’s not forget that knowledge is power and now you have more knowledge about these exciting medicines.

A healthy diet, being active, sleeping well, rejoicing in humor, maintaining purpose, and embracing loved ones remain the mainstay of any plan to stay healthy.

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