Obese youth may soon have a powerful new tool to help them lose weight.
Adolescents who received weekly injections of the appetite-suppressing drug lost an average of 14.7% of their initial body weight compared to those who received placebo and diet counseling, according to results of a clinical trial published Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine. Adolescents who received lost an average of 14.7% of their initial body weight. Exercise increased her 2.7% of her starting weight. The trial included her 201 adolescents from her 12 years old to her 17 years old at her 3 medical centers in the country and Europe and Mexico.
By the end of the study, more than 40% of participants who received the drug and lifestyle counseling were able to reduce their BMI by more than 20%, said study co-author Aaron Kelly, co-director of the Center for says. Pediatric Obesity Medicine, University of Minnesota.
Semaglutide, sold under the brand name Wegovy, is used to treat type 2 diabetes. Diabetic doctors have noticed side effects of this drug. The drug works by telling the pancreas to secrete more insulin to control blood sugar. When doctors pointed weight loss to pharmaceutical company Novohi Nordisk, the company planned trials to study the effects of semaglutide as a tool to combat obesity. Previous studies in adults have shown that this drug actually helps with weight loss. The Food and Drug Administration has approved it for obese adults in 2021.
“I’m absolutely thrilled,” Kelly said. “We’re entering a stage where we’re seeing weight loss like teens come to us with tears in their eyes. This is the first time in my life I’ve been able to control my weight.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 1 in 5 adolescents ages 12 to 19 in the United States are considered obese based on their BMI. Obese children are more likely to develop weight-related illnesses later in life, experts say.
Monica Bianco, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Chief Physician at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, said: “When obese children become young adults, they start developing conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol,” she said. “It’s people as young as 30 who are having heart attacks.” .”
By the time Emmalea Zummo entered the study, her weight had jumped to 250 pounds. Her 17-year-old from Janet, western Pennsylvania, had been struggling for years with her weight gain, linked to a hormonal condition called polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
“I tried dieting,” Zumo said. “I tried exercising. I do more sports than any other kid I know, and nothing works. My body gets used to the extra exercise, gets used to the new diet, and loses weight. is back.
Zummo felt hopeless. She was “diagnosed with depression because of her weight,” she said.
When the opportunity arose to participate in research, Zummo jumped at it. “Even when the medication was explained to her at her first appointment, she already felt lighter,” she said.
She lost over 70 pounds. Now her weight has dropped from her 170 to 180. “It made her feel better in her own skin than she’d ever felt before.”
Participants weighed an average of 237 pounds, and 193 reached week 68. 131 received medication and lifestyle interventions, and 62 received lifestyle interventions only.
Overall, 73% of those taking the medication experienced a weight loss of 5% or more, compared to 18% of those receiving the lifestyle intervention alone.
In addition to weight loss, the drug reduced cardiovascular risk factors such as waist circumference and bad cholesterol.
“This is the first time, to my knowledge, that an anti-obesity drug in teens has been shown to improve their quality of life,” Kelly said.
There were some side effects, including nausea, that seemed to diminish as the teens got used to the drug.
There are other drugs that are approved for use in obese adolescents. Based on the results of the new study, semaglutide is “the most effective anti-obesity drug for teenagers,” says Kelly.
Eduardo Grunwald, M.D., medical director of the weight management program at the University of California, San Diego, said many people still think of obesity as “a lifestyle problem that’s out of our control.” We know that the impact of intervention alone will be modest at best.”
Will the weight come back?
While weight-loss surgery for teenagers is gaining mass acceptance, “medicine to treat weight in children is a new concept for most people,” says Grunvald. “These drugs will become more popular as more data about their safety and efficacy become available.”
The benefits found in the new study are “exciting for the general public and for those of us practicing obesity medicine,” said Linda and Stewart Resnick endowment chair and medical professor of human nutrition. said Dr. Zhaoping Li, Center for Human Nutrition, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles.
One of the unknowns in the study is whether the drug remains effective in the long term, Li said.
Long-term follow-up data on people taking diabetes medication shows that people are gaining weight. If so, will the weight come back? The answer is probably yes,” she said.
After all, even when people undergo weight-loss surgery, “three years later, we see significant weight gain,” says Li.
Just because a patient is prescribed one of these weight-loss drugs doesn’t stop there, Li said. “We take this opportunity to identify the underlying issues that have led to weight gain in our patients’ individual lives, and help them not only lose weight and maintain weight loss, but live healthier lives.” I need to help make a radical change in order to…lifestyle,” she said.
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