Matthew Garza and Rhea Teng writing for Diatribe report that Wegovy, a once-weekly injectable medication (ric name: semaglutide), has been approved by the FDA to treat obesity and excess weight – conditions that can lead to Type 2 diabetes and prediabetes. This new treatment has led to significant weight loss in clinical trials; expected to be available in the US in summer 2021
Dr. Donna Ryan, a renowned obesity researcher from the Pennington Biomedical Research Center at LSU, said, “[This] is the best news I have [heard] in a long time, and I have been eagerly awaiting it.” And Dr. Robert Kushner from Northwestern University, who was an author on the research papers that led to Wegovy’s approval, said, “The approval of Wegovy provides the availability of a more effective medication for the management of obesity and sets the stage for a new generation of drugs that harness the benefits of naturally occurring hormones such as GLP-1.”
By treating obesity and excess weight as chronic conditions, this could help prevent people from developing type 2 diabetes and other health complications. The new type of treatment may also help address the stigma around diabetes and obesity – neither condition is a lifestyle choice nor personal flaw, but rather the two are medical conditions involving a number of factors, including genetics and environment.
To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
