The FDA Has Approved An Obesity Drug That Helped Some People Drop Weight By 15% : NPR - 0 views
-
Regulators on Friday said a new version of a popular diabetes medicine could be sold as a weight-loss drug in the U.S.
-
In company-funded studies, participants taking Wegovy had average weight loss of 15%, about 34 pounds (15.3 kilograms). Participants lost weight steadily for 16 months before plateauing.
-
"With existing drugs, you're going to get maybe 5% to 10% weight reduction, sometimes not even that,"
- ...5 more annotations...
-
Dropping even 5% of one's weight can bring health benefits, such as improved energy, blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels, but that amount often doesn't satisfy patients who are focused on weight loss
-
The drug carries a potential risk for a type of thyroid tumor, so it shouldn't be taken by people with a personal or family history of certain thyroid and endocrine tumors. Wegovy also has a risk of depression and pancreas inflammation.
-
Like other weight-loss drugs, it's to be used along with exercise, a healthy diet and other steps like keeping a food diary.
-
Wegovy builds on a trend in which makers of relatively new diabetes drugs test them to treat other conditions common in diabetics.