Diabetes Drug Liraglutide Going Mainstream, for Weight Loss

Just before Christmas last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a new weight-loss drug: Saxenda. It’s the same drug—liraglutide or Victoza—they approved for treatment of diabetes in 2010.

Click for my brief review of the drug class for diabetics.

Click for the CBS News report on Saxenda. A snippet:

One clinical trial that involved patients without diabetes found that patients taking Saxenda had an average weight loss of 4.5 percent after one year. Of the people treated with the drug, 62 percent lost at least 5 percent of their body weight. Meanwhile, only 34 percent of those given an inactive placebo had the same result.

Another clinical trial that included patients with type 2 diabetes found that patients had an average weight loss of almost 4 percent after one year. Of those given Saxenda, 49 percent lost at least 5 percent of their body weight, compared to 16 percent of those who were given a placebo treatment.

Click for the FDA’s press release.

Oh, by the way. You have to inject it daily under the skin (subcutaneous). And if you were hoping for a shortcut to weight loss, this ain’t it. You’re still supposed to follow a reduced-calorie diet and exercise regularly.

I’d try the Paleobetic Diet first if I had diabetes. Lose excess weight and control blood sugars.

Steve Parker, M.D.

PS: Full prescribing information.

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