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One third (35%) of people who took a new drug for treating obesity lost more than one-fifth (greater than or equal to 20%) of their total body weight, according

One third (35%) of people who took a new drug for treating obesity lost more than one-fifth (greater than or equal to 20%) of their total body weight, according to a major global study involving UCL researchers. The drug, semaglutide, works by hijacking the body's own appetite regulating system in the brain leading to reduced hunger and calorie intake. Three quarters (75%) of people who received semaglutide 2.4mg lost more than 10% of their body weight and more than one-third lost more than 20%. No other drug has come close to producing this level of weight loss -- this really is a gamechanger. The drug possesses a compound structurally similar to (and mimics) the human glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) hormone, which is released into the blood from the gut after meals.

zikzak 6y ago
I think it is important to note that a 10% drop (if mostly fat) can bring significant quality of life improvements for people who are experiencing issues related to obesity. Imagine you walk around with a 30 lbs bag of flour on your back all the time. Then, all of a sudden, you are able to put that bag down. The faster you lose weight (this is all anecdotal) the more it is like putting that bag down all at once. Now, can they keep the weight of after losing it? Because I can gain those 30 lbs back very, very quickly.
- engineer_22 6y ago
  If the drug can be administered long term, perhaps there is hope they will keep the weight off.
  - Cthulhu_ 6y ago
    If it is the same as the glucagon hormone mentioned by the grandparent comment, it SHOULD be 'natural' and have no side effects. But just look at reproductive hormone treatments (the pill) to see how things like this can go wrong (serious mental side effects; my sister struggled with seasonal depression for half her life, turns out it was just the pill. My girlfriend developed suicidal ideation from the Mirena coil. They stopped a research in male anticonception medication because of the mood swings).
- pratik661 6y ago
  I was overweight when the pandemic started (24% bf). I lost 10% of my body weight in a few months. It’s insane how much your athletic ability jumps just from that. I used to work out intensely before and would make marginal improvements in stamina/speed/etc.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 6y ago
  In my experience it is losing the initial weight that is the easy part and keeping it off long term that's hard. However the mechanism the drug uses sounds promising that regard (assuming your body doesn't adapt to it), although it would mean adding another lifetime drug to my list.
- P_I_Staker 6y ago
  Yeah, I have sleep apnea and GERD, likely related to obesity (I drank beer and coffee constantly for my entire adult life too though; coffee so I could work, beer after to relax)... but I'm wondering how much is related to obesity. I can feel the fat pushing and creating pressure points, which contributes to both conditions. The crazy thing, is I'm not like super fat or anything. 6'2" 245lbs was my max, and I'm at 235lbs now... I felt perfectly fine at 225 when I worked out. Seems like such a small difference, but I've gotten virtually no exercise with covid, so it's not a fair comparison. That's enough for obesity, but the crazy thing is it's not considered fat at all in the USA, if you're a guy. You just "aren't in your early 20s anymore", or have a "dad bod", or you're a loveable jolly rascal that loves life (eg. Chris Pratt in P&R). We act like it's practically inevitable and not a horrific medical condition that's causing me to be eaten from the inside out by my own acid. I know some of this is just luck, but I wonder what truly fat people have to deal with. I couldn't imagine my reflux being better if I was say 275-300+.
  - sn9 6y ago
    Parts 6 and 7 of this Youtube series on the risks of obesity are on sleep apnea and GERD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGnVgbUHtKI&list=PLyqKj7LwU2Rt-rwTADidq3JDJjv9_W2aV&index=13 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGnVgbUHtKI&list=PLyqKj7LwU2...
notjustanymike 6y ago
Hearing about a drug that hijacks the body's appetite makes me feel like we're in the prologue to a zombie movie.
- 0x1F8B 6y ago
  The global virus pandemic that is responsible for a total lockdown and a multitude of deaths and spread immediately via global transportation system wasn't enough for you?
  - Cthulhu_ 6y ago
    Worse, it's mutating! It's just like most zombie movie plots. None of those predicted the hoarding of toilet paper though.
  - notjustanymike 6y ago
    Maybe we're just hedging our bets for multiple zombie movies?
- rhino369 6y ago
  Plenty of drugs do things that sound scarier to me--a layperson. SSRIs change the way you think and feel. Pain killers hijack your nervous system so you don't feel pain.
- petra 6y ago
  Are zombies such a big problem , given modern weapons and armies/police ?
  - dagw 6y ago
    Have you read World War Z? It covers that very question in great detail. One problem it highlights is that modern armies and military tactics are incredibly inefficient. The amount of fuel, munitions and calories they use for every kill is staggering. Also much of modern military tactics are based around putting on a massive show of force up front and hoping the enemy surrenders or retreats. That is not a problem if you only have to kill a few thousand people who's spirit to fight can be broken, and you're backed up by a fully functional logistics network. Remove the logistics network and face off against an 'army' of hunderds of thousands of enemies that will never retreat then those tactics will quickly see your fuel and munition stores depleted. Towards the end of the book the Army has reinvented the infantry square and equipped all their soldiers with bolt action rifles to stop them wasting ammo.
baybal2 6y ago
The drug doesn't actually "burn" fat, as the previous headline suggested, but reduces appetite. All known drugs that actually trick the body into burning more fat are kind of dangerous, some are lethally dangerous from a single overdose. And they would reduce the appetite, oppositely some cause monstrous appetite. I'm 80-85kg 173cm man. Months of strenuous exercise doesn't barely make me reach 78-79. Though they do make me feel much better, and energetic. A therapy needs to do both, somehow make the body consume more energy from fat specifically, and not cause excess appetite. This can be one leg of that.
- computerphage 6y ago
  > somehow make the body consume more energy from fat specifically Any way to achieve a calorie deficit will accomplish this. There doesn't have to be a second drug to make your body use fat as energy once you've already given it no other choice.

zikzak 6y ago

I think it is important to note that a 10% drop (if mostly fat) can bring significant quality of life improvements for people who are experiencing issues related to obesity. Imagine you walk around with a 30 lbs bag of flour on your back all the time. Then, all of a sudden, you are able to put that bag down. The faster you lose weight (this is all anecdotal) the more it is like putting that bag down all at once. Now, can they keep the weight of after losing it? Because I can gain those 30 lbs back very, very quickly.

engineer_22 6y ago
If the drug can be administered long term, perhaps there is hope they will keep the weight off.
- Cthulhu_ 6y ago
  If it is the same as the glucagon hormone mentioned by the grandparent comment, it SHOULD be 'natural' and have no side effects. But just look at reproductive hormone treatments (the pill) to see how things like this can go wrong (serious mental side effects; my sister struggled with seasonal depression for half her life, turns out it was just the pill. My girlfriend developed suicidal ideation from the Mirena coil. They stopped a research in male anticonception medication because of the mood swings).
pratik661 6y ago
I was overweight when the pandemic started (24% bf). I lost 10% of my body weight in a few months. It’s insane how much your athletic ability jumps just from that. I used to work out intensely before and would make marginal improvements in stamina/speed/etc.
AnIdiotOnTheNet 6y ago
In my experience it is losing the initial weight that is the easy part and keeping it off long term that's hard. However the mechanism the drug uses sounds promising that regard (assuming your body doesn't adapt to it), although it would mean adding another lifetime drug to my list.
P_I_Staker 6y ago
Yeah, I have sleep apnea and GERD, likely related to obesity (I drank beer and coffee constantly for my entire adult life too though; coffee so I could work, beer after to relax)... but I'm wondering how much is related to obesity. I can feel the fat pushing and creating pressure points, which contributes to both conditions. The crazy thing, is I'm not like super fat or anything. 6'2" 245lbs was my max, and I'm at 235lbs now... I felt perfectly fine at 225 when I worked out. Seems like such a small difference, but I've gotten virtually no exercise with covid, so it's not a fair comparison. That's enough for obesity, but the crazy thing is it's not considered fat at all in the USA, if you're a guy. You just "aren't in your early 20s anymore", or have a "dad bod", or you're a loveable jolly rascal that loves life (eg. Chris Pratt in P&R). We act like it's practically inevitable and not a horrific medical condition that's causing me to be eaten from the inside out by my own acid. I know some of this is just luck, but I wonder what truly fat people have to deal with. I couldn't imagine my reflux being better if I was say 275-300+.
- sn9 6y ago
  Parts 6 and 7 of this Youtube series on the risks of obesity are on sleep apnea and GERD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGnVgbUHtKI&list=PLyqKj7LwU2Rt-rwTADidq3JDJjv9_W2aV&index=13 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGnVgbUHtKI&list=PLyqKj7LwU2...

notjustanymike 6y ago

Hearing about a drug that hijacks the body's appetite makes me feel like we're in the prologue to a zombie movie.

0x1F8B 6y ago
The global virus pandemic that is responsible for a total lockdown and a multitude of deaths and spread immediately via global transportation system wasn't enough for you?
- Cthulhu_ 6y ago
  Worse, it's mutating! It's just like most zombie movie plots. None of those predicted the hoarding of toilet paper though.
- notjustanymike 6y ago
  Maybe we're just hedging our bets for multiple zombie movies?
rhino369 6y ago
Plenty of drugs do things that sound scarier to me--a layperson. SSRIs change the way you think and feel. Pain killers hijack your nervous system so you don't feel pain.
petra 6y ago
Are zombies such a big problem , given modern weapons and armies/police ?
- dagw 6y ago
  Have you read World War Z? It covers that very question in great detail. One problem it highlights is that modern armies and military tactics are incredibly inefficient. The amount of fuel, munitions and calories they use for every kill is staggering. Also much of modern military tactics are based around putting on a massive show of force up front and hoping the enemy surrenders or retreats. That is not a problem if you only have to kill a few thousand people who's spirit to fight can be broken, and you're backed up by a fully functional logistics network. Remove the logistics network and face off against an 'army' of hunderds of thousands of enemies that will never retreat then those tactics will quickly see your fuel and munition stores depleted. Towards the end of the book the Army has reinvented the infantry square and equipped all their soldiers with bolt action rifles to stop them wasting ammo.

baybal2 6y ago

The drug doesn't actually "burn" fat, as the previous headline suggested, but reduces appetite. All known drugs that actually trick the body into burning more fat are kind of dangerous, some are lethally dangerous from a single overdose. And they would reduce the appetite, oppositely some cause monstrous appetite. I'm 80-85kg 173cm man. Months of strenuous exercise doesn't barely make me reach 78-79. Though they do make me feel much better, and energetic. A therapy needs to do both, somehow make the body consume more energy from fat specifically, and not cause excess appetite. This can be one leg of that.

computerphage 6y ago
> somehow make the body consume more energy from fat specifically Any way to achieve a calorie deficit will accomplish this. There doesn't have to be a second drug to make your body use fat as energy once you've already given it no other choice.