(Nick Beare/ Ottawa Citizen) — Authors of a new study out of the United Kingdom describe a new weight loss drug as a ‘game changer’ in treating obesity after people using the drug semaglutide were able to cut up to 20 per cent of their body weight.
The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, focused on almost 2,000 people across 16 countries and found that three quarters of those who took the drug lost more than ten per cent of their bodyweight, and more than one-third of those studied lost over one-fifth of their bodyweight.
The results highlighted the positive impact that treating obesity could have on a variety of health issues and diseases such as COVID-19, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and cancer.
“No other drug has come close to producing this level of weight loss — this really is a game changer,” Dr. Rachel Batterham of University College London and one of the study’s main authors said. “For the first time, people can achieve through drugs what was only possible through weight-loss surgery.” (…)