The FDA has approved the medication semaglutide for obesity treatment, and some doctors have called it a “game changer.”
The drug, in the form of once-weekly 2.4 mg injections, will be prescribed for patients with a body mass index BMI of 30 or more, or a BMI of 27 with related conditions such as diabetes, according to a press release.
The medication, initially developed to treat type 2 diabetes, is the first drug treatment to be FDA approved for weight management since 2014, according to the press release.
The medication can help balance out hormones like insulin, which may curb appetite and allow people to shed pounds by eating less. While side effects are typically mild, some experts are concerned about the safety of its long-term use.
Semaglutide can be taken orally or by injection, according to Novo Nordisk, and it works by increasing the production of insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas that helps regulate blood sugar.
Previous research found that patients taking the drug lost 15-20% of their body weight over 68 weeks, compared to 2.4% in patients taking the placebo.
The drug is currently only approved to treat type 2 diabetes. While doctors have said semaglutide may someday be prescribed for weight loss, it’s not yet available to the general public for that purpose.
Despite the promising research, there’s one major caveat to the medication: in order to keep the weight off, patients need to continue taking it.
One recent study showed that patients on semaglutide lost 10% of their body weight in 20 weeks, but regained nearly all of it after the treatment. In contrast, the study group that kept taking the drug went on to lose another 8% of their body weight.
In some patients, semaglutide can cause minor, temporary symptoms like nausea and diarrhea.
Dr. Scott Butsch, the director of obesity medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, said that the side effects of semaglutide were no riskier than those of medications used to treat other chronic conditions like hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol.
Despite its reported benefits, there are some skeptics of semaglutide as a weight loss solution. Celebrity trainer Jillian Michaels expressed concern that people seek the medication at the expense of more sustainable forms of weight loss. And dietitians worry that the hormone-shifting effects could have unforeseen consequences in the long-term, particularly since it hasn’t been tested over years of use.
“I get really concerned about a medication in which the method of action is putting the pancreas into overdrive,” Rachael Hartley, a registered dietitian who specializes in intuitive eating and the author of a new book called “Gentle Nutrition,” previously told Insider.
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