Obesity Shots Halve Your Risk of Diabetes and May Cause Enough Weight Loss to Treat a Range of Problems

Participants who were overweight and obese had a 61 percent chance of getting sick.

A drug called Wegovy was approved in England after it was shown to help patients lose an average of 15% of their body weight.

In England, about 4.5 million people live with type 2 diabetes, costing the NHS more than £10 billion a year.

The researchers conducted a new analysis of data from two previous trials of semaglutide to assess its impact. Study leader Dr. Timothy Garvey said an average weight loss of 15% is “sufficient to treat or prevent a wide range of obesity complications that impair health and quality of life.” He added that this effect is “a game-changer in medicine.”

In the first study, 1,961 overweight and obese patients received an injection of semaglutide 2.4 mg or placebo weekly for 68 weeks. In the second study, an additional 803 overweight and obese participants received weekly injections of 2.4 mg of semaglutide for 20 weeks. These patients then either continued to take the drug or switched to placebo for the next 48 weeks. All participants received advice on diet and exercise.

Researchers at the University of Alabama, USA, used a formula called cardiometabolic disease staging to predict the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the next decade. This calculation has been shown to be a highly accurate measure of risk and takes into account gender, age, race, body mass index and blood pressure, as well as blood glucose and cholesterol levels.

Decadal risk rates for participants treated with semaglutide in the first study decreased by 61% from 18.2% at baseline to 7.1% at week 68. This compares to a 13% risk reduction in those who received placebo, from 17.8% at baseline to 15.6% at week 68.

The results of the second study showed that long-term treatment is needed to maintain a reduction in the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The results will be presented to the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Stockholm next week.

The well-known proverb tells us to breakfast like a king, dine like a prince, and dine like a beggar. But the theory behind this—that we burn more calories after breakfast than after dinner—is false.

A study from the University of Aberdeen, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, found that a similar number of calories are burned, but that large breakfasts increase levels of a hormone that makes us feel full and can help control appetite.

Christina DENISYUK.

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