The prevalence of overweight and obesity has continued to grow in adults and children more than four times from 1975 to 2016 globally. A second study of an injectable anti-obesity medication, semaglutide, reported to be able to make an impact on weight management. In the randomised clinical trial, 611 adults with overweight and obesity without diabetes received 68 weeks’ treatment with once-weekly subcutaneous semaglutide versus placebo that combined with intensive behavioural therapy (and a low-calorie diet for the initial 8 weeks). The results reported that the semaglutide group loss of 16% of baseline body weight versus 5.7% for those assigned to intensive behavioural therapy combined with placebo. Although further research are required to assess the durability of these findings, the results hold a significant promise for the prevention of diabetes or cardiovascular diseases that are associated with overweight and obesity.

Keywords: Overweight, Obesity, Anti-obesity, Weight management, Behavioural therapy

Reference

Thomas AW, et al. JAMA, 2021; DOI: 10.1001/jama.2021.1831