Marketed as Saxenda by Novo Nordisk.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: A new weight loss drug shows promise, but with readily apparent side effects, as well.
Liraglutide, marketed as Saxenda by Novo Nordisk, was approved in 2014 by the U.S. regulators as an injectable diabetes drug after trial was conducted in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa at 191 sites in a controlled and randomized way. The drug is based on a hormone found in the gut and sends signals to the brain that trick it into feeling full, according to Pioneer News.
“This medication adds to the options physicians will have in helping overweight and obese patients lose weight and keep it off,” said lead researcher Dr. F. Xavier Pi-Sunyer, professor of medicine at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City.
A study that found the medication helped obese people lose up to 20 pounds in just over a year also revealed several side effects, including nausea, diarrhea, constipation, and vomiting. Other more rare side effects include pancreas inflammation, gallbladder disease, lowered kidney function, and sudden drops in blood sugar, reported CTV.
In the latest study, funded by Novo Nordisk, those taking the drug lost an average of 18.5 pounds over 56 weeks. Those taking a placebo only lost 6 pounds. CTV health and medical expert Dr. Marla Shapiro says that is considered a “quite significant” weight loss.
“And we use that as a marker because if you can lose five per cent of your body weight – regardless of where you start – we begin to see significant changes” in overall health, she said, which includes improvements in blood pressure, waist circumference and the delayed onset of Type 2 diabetes.
But Shapiro noted the study also found that patients’ weight returned when they stopped taking the drug.
“[They] began to see regain again, on average about [5 to 6 pounds]. So it may be, in fact, that this becomes a lifelong medication,” she said.