An emerging drug for the treatment of obesity is currently showing promise when used to treat overweight teens, following successful trials in adults and subsequent approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last year.
The treatment has also been shown to induce effects that improve certain markers of cardiovascular health, according to the “New Atlas” website, citing “The New England Journal of Medicine”.
The drug in question was approved as a treatment for type 2 diabetes in 2017, but it has also shown promise in the field of weight loss.
The drug works by mimicking the chemical composition of a hormone in the body that acts on the appetite control center in the brain to reduce the feeling of hunger, and a small 2017 study showed that it led to weight loss in a group of 28 people. obese.
This was followed by a study of over 2,000 obese people who received weekly injections of the drug and entered weight loss programs with fewer calories and more physical activity. In this group, the researchers observed an average weight loss of 15.3 kg, with an average decrease in BMI of 5.54%, along with reduced risk factors for heart disease and diabetes. Hence, the FDA approved the drug as a treatment for obesity in adults in June of last year.
As evidence continues to accumulate on anti-obesity benefits in adults, the effects on adolescents have remained unclear. So another study involved 201 people between the ages of 12 and 18 who were overweight or obese, who were given weekly injections of the reintroduced drug or a placebo, and were simultaneously advised on nutrition and physical activity.
After 68 weeks, 72.5% of participants lost at least 5% of their weight, compared to only 17% in the placebo group. The real drug group had an average decrease of 16.1% in BMI, while the placebo group increased on average by 0.6%. The scientists also observed an improvement in cardiovascular risk factors again, including waist circumference, cholesterol and glycemic control.
