Diabetes medicine Semaglutide has proven itself to be effective in reducing blood sugar levels.
It also helps improve the functioning of the pancreas and its ability to secrete insulin.
But what are the causes of this medication's weight loss effect? What makes it more effective than other similar diabetes drugs?
And can it truly be called a weight-loss medicine?
Semaglutide for Obesity and Diabetes (Diabesity)!
The answer to all these questions lies in the drug's mechanism of action.
Semaglutide is a GLP-1 analog that acts to release insulin and suppresses glucagon in a glucose-dependent manner.
It is meant to be given as a once-weekly injection of 0.25 mg (Rybelsus) or as 3 mg orally once a day (Ozempic) and has thus far been found to cause a considerable weight loss in most subjects over the course of just one month.
It's one of the more exciting new diabetes medicines due to the fact that the effect lasts over the long term (so it probably won't stop either when you stop taking it) and researchers are currently examining the possibility of using Semaglutide for the prevention of type 2 diabetes.
For Obesity, Oral Semaglutide is superior to Liraglutide
Of course, in clinical trials, it has often been found that type II diabetes medications are not effective for long-term weight loss due to their associated side effects, particularly when it comes to nausea, dizziness, sleepiness, hot flushes, chills, and kidney disease. In addition, the long-term effects of many medications for treating diabetes have been questioned.
This would indicate that Semaglutide, as an oral diabetes medicine, could be an avenue worth exploring as part of a weight management plan.
There has also been some initial evidence of improvement in body weight management in persons taking a placebo, although this must be considered a very preliminary finding.
The reason for this is that, in order to establish any effect of medication, either in reducing body weight or increase body weight, in patients already receiving some form of weight management, placebo effects must first be observed before a comparison could be made with those who are not receiving such treatment.
Semaglutide: Drug Interaction
|
Alpha-Lipoic Acid |
May boost an anti-diabetic agent's hypoglycemic impact. |
|
Androgens |
May enhance the hypoglycemic effect of Blood Glucose Lowering Agents. Exceptions: Danazol. |
| Agents with Direct Antiviral Action (HCV) | May boost an anti-diabetic agent's hypoglycemic impact. |
|
Guanethidine |
May boost an anti-diabetic agent's hypoglycemic impact. |
|
Hyperglycemia-Associated Agents |
May reduce an anti-diabetic agent's therapeutic efficacy. |
|
Hypoglycemia-Associated Agents |
Antidiabetic Agents may enhance the hypoglycemic effect of Hypoglycemia-Associated Agents. |
|
Maitake |
May enhance the hypoglycemic effect of Blood Glucose Lowering Agents. |
| Anti-monoamine oxidase agents |
May enhance the hypoglycemic effect of Blood Glucose Lowering Agents. |
|
Pegvisomant |
May enhance the hypoglycemic effect of Blood Glucose Lowering Agents. |
|
Prothionamide |
May enhance the hypoglycemic effect of Blood Glucose Lowering Agents. |
|
Quinolones |
Can make blood glucose-lowering medications more effective at lowering blood sugar. Blood Glucose Lowering Agents' therapeutic impact may be lessened by quinolones. In particular, the use of quinolones may result in a loss of blood sugar control if an agent is being used to treat diabetes. |
|
Ritodrine |
Could lessen the therapeutic impact of diabetes treatment drugs. |
|
Salicylates |
May enhance the hypoglycemic effect of Blood Glucose Lowering Agents. |
| Inhibitors of Selective Serotonin Reuptake |
May enhance the hypoglycemic effect of Blood Glucose Lowering Agents. |
| Diuretics that act like thiazides |
May diminish the therapeutic effect of Antidiabetic Agents. |
|
Insulins |
Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Agonists may enhance the hypoglycemic effect of Insulins. Management: Consider insulin dose reductions when used in combination with glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists. Avoid the use of lixisenatide in patients receiving both basal insulin and a sulfonylurea. |
|
Sincalide |
Drugs that Affect Gallbladder Function may diminish the therapeutic effect of Sincalide. Management: Consider discontinuing drugs that may affect gallbladder motility prior to the use of sincalide to stimulate gallbladder contraction. |
|
Sulfonylureas |
Sulfonylureas' hypoglycemic effect may be enhanced by glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists. Management: When used with glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists, sulfonylurea dose reductions should be taken into account. |
Wegovy is a high dose Semaglutide FDA approved for Obesity
For this reason, more work is needed to determine whether there really is any benefit from Semaglutide for weight loss in patients already on other forms of medication. The mechanism by which Semaglutide works in diabetes is by affecting insulin secretion. Insulin is secreted by the pancreas. It also counteracts the effects of fatty liver in people with diabetes. When the pancreas is not producing enough insulin, cells in the liver fail to secrete enough glucose that is not transported to the body to meet the needs of the cells. In this case, glucose is not effectively used by the body.
Semaglutide improved ALT and half of the studied patients [Ref]
One of the main reasons why regular administration of this drug to overweight diabetic patients is useful for weight management is that it can reduce insulin resistance (IR). Since IR is the most common cause of diabetes, the medication helps to normalize IR and glucose levels. It does this by enhancing the synthesis of amino acids at the pancreatic insulin receptor. Another reason for the success of this type of weight management strategy is that the Semaglutide, unlike most diet aids, does not increase food cravings. This means that diabetics do not feel hungry and are able to control their eating habits better.
The medical trials on this medication have shown that it effectively helps to control weight gain and improves survival in patients with type 2 diabetes.
The results of one clinical trial showed a reduction in triglycerides and increased glucose levels in patients taking the medication compared to a placebo.
Furthermore, results showed that the mortality rate in these patients was not higher compared to the placebo group.
These results imply that this particular medication can be effective in the treatment of obesity in people with type 2 diabetes.
However, further studies are still needed to prove its efficacy in the treatment of obese people with type 2 diabetes.
Preliminary results from another clinical trial on this new anti-diabetes drug showed that patients with mild non-diabetic heart problems benefited from taking this medication.
The results suggest that both long term and short-term effects of Semaglutide can be beneficial to diabetic patients with cardiovascular disease.
For patients with either a history of cardiovascular disease or at high risk for cardiovascular disease, the clinical trial of Semaglutide can be an exciting development in the treatment of obesity.
Note: This article was written by an artificial intelligence software
