A drug used to treat type 2 diabetes has been hailed as a "game changer" in the fight against obesity.
In an international trial, patients given weekly injections of semaglutide – which works by suppressing appetite - lost 15.3kg on average over 15 months; those in a control group, given dummy injections, lost just 2.6kg. Almost a third of the 1,961 volunteers who had the drug lost a fifth or more of their body-weight, compared with 2% of the placebo group.
However, patients reported side effects including nausea; and more studies will be needed to see if the weight they lost stays off. The drug works by mimicking the effects of a hormone, GLP-1, that is released when people eat a filling meal.
The Week, 27 Feb 2021
Questions:
a) What do you think about obesity in Japan?
b) What do you think are the main causes of obesity?
c) What is your opinion on the availability of a drug that can fight obesity?