Today, obesity has become a global epidemic, and the incidence of obesity has skyrocketed in countries around the world. According to the World Health Organization, it is estimated that 13 percent of the world’s adults are obese. More importantly, obesity can further cause metabolic syndrome, which is accompanied by various complications such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), cardiovascular disease, and cancer.
In June 2021, the FDA approved Semaglutide, a weight-loss drug developed by Novo Nordisk, as Wegovy. Thanks to its excellent weight loss results, good safety profile and a push from celebrities like Musk, Semaglutide has become so popular around the world that it’s even hard to find. According to Novo Nordisk’s 2022 financial report, Semaglutide generated sales of up to $12 billion in 2022.
Recently, a study published in the Journal showed that Semaglutide also has an unexpected benefit: restoring natural killer (NK) cell function in the body, including the ability to kill cancer cells, which is not dependent on the drug’s weight-loss effects. This study is also very positive news for obese patients using Semaglutide, suggesting that the drug has key potential benefits of cancer risk reduction in addition to weight loss. A new generation of drugs, represented by Semaglutide, is revolutionating the treatment of obesity and has surprised researchers with its powerful effects.
So, who can get good weight loss from it?
For the first time, the team divided obese people into four groups: those who need to eat more to feel full (brain hunger), those who eat at a normal weight but feel hungry later (gut hunger), those who eat to cope with emotions (emotional hunger), and those who have a relatively slow metabolism (slow metabolists). The team found that gut starved obese patients responded best to these new weight-loss drugs for unknown reasons, but the researchers reasoned that it might be because GLP-1 levels were not high, which is why they gained weight and, therefore, better weight loss with GLP-1 receptor agonists.
Obesity is now considered a chronic disease, so these drugs are recommended for long-term treatment. But how long is that? It is not clear, and this is the direction to be explored next.
In addition, these new weight-loss drugs were so effective that some researchers began to discuss how much weight was lost. Losing weight not only reduces fat but also leads to muscle loss, and muscle wasting increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and other conditions, which is a particular concern for the elderly and those with cardiovascular disease. These people are affected by the so-called obesity fallacy – that weight loss is associated with higher mortality.
Therefore, several groups have begun to explore the low-dose effects of using these novel weight-loss drugs to address obesites-related problems, such as apnea, fatty liver disease, and type 2 diabetes, which does not necessarily require weight loss.
Post time: Oct-23-2023