Semaglutide, an adult weight-loss drug, is helping teens suffering from obesity lower their body mass indexes (BMIs).
Semaglutide, under the Wegovy brand, is an injection-based drug that is typically paired with a diet and exercise program to control the blood sugar levels in adults with Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol. It is also known for increasing weight loss by decreasing appetite.
Novo Nordisk, the company that manufactures the drug, decided to design trials to study the drug’s effect on obesity after doctors began to notice weight loss in their diabetes patients, according to CBS News.
The New England Journal of Medicine recently published details on a clinical trial that was conducted on 201 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 who were suffering from obesity. These children were treated in medical centers located in the United States, Mexico, and Europe.
Some of the participants received injections while others received a placebo, as well as diet and exercise counseling.
The results from this trial concluded that weekly injections of the appetite-reducing drug had caused an average drop of 14.7% of their starting weight.
The participants who had received the placebo had gained an average of 2.7% of their starting weight.
By the end of the study, researchers found that more than 40% of the participants who had received the drug and counseling had reduced their BMIs by 20% or more.
Texas currently has six of the most obese metros in the nation, including the number one metro, McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, as previously reported by The Dallas Express. The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metro ranked as the 27th most obese metro.
When compared to the rest of the world, the population of the United States ranked 12th with an adult obesity rate of 36.20%.
Semaglutide may be a game-changer for younger generations.
“I’m absolutely excited,” said Aaron Kelly, co-author of the study and co-director of the Center for Pediatric Obesity Medicine at the University of Minnesota. “We’ve entered the phase where we are seeing the kind of weight loss where teens come to us in tears. It’s the first time they’ve had control of their weight in their lifetimes.”
