01 MOST PROMISING NEW TREATMENT A JAB THAT CURBS OVEREATING

Weight-loss aids – from fat-blockers and thermogenic pills to ‘slimming’ teas – have a chequered history, with many turning out to be ineffective or even harmful. But experts are calling semaglutide, a recently trialled medication, ‘the start of a new era’ for weight-loss drug development. The drug, a weekly injectable, is already approved in the US for those who are medically categorised as obese or overweight, and works by mimicking hormones that trigger feelings of fullness. It’s been submitted for approval for obesity treatment in the UK.

In lower doses, semaglutide has been used for many years to control type 2 diabetes; in this higher dose, it was found to act on the brain and reduce appetite. It’s the most effective prescription drug for weight management so far – people lost about an impressive 15% of their body weight in 17 months, according to University of Pennsylvania research that was published in The New England Journal Of Medicine. People on a placebo lost about 2.5% of their body weight.

The efficacy numbers are welcome news in this field. But what has doctors more excited about this medication is its potential for making your whole body healthier – and maybe your mind, too. ‘This degree of weight loss can have a major impact on type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, arthritis and obstructive sleep apnoea, just to name a few,’ says MH adviser and obesitymedicine expert Dr Fatima Cody Stanford. The drug may also help lessen the ‘blame the patient’ stigma around obesity, argues Dr Yoni Freedhoff, medical director of the Bariatric Medical Institute in Ontario, Canada. ‘People don’t choose to have obesity any more than they choose to have high blood pressure. With the latter, though, no one blinks about medications that help to lower it, and hopefully there will be a future where the same might be said with obesity.’

BOTTOM LINE Semaglutide can help people lose weight – improving weight-related health issues – and, ideally, gain more healthy years of life.