30 May Diabetes Medication Liraglutide May Be Useful For Weight Management

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
John Wilding DM FRCP
Professor of Medicine & Honorary Consultant Physician
Head of Department of Obesity and Endocrinology
Institute of Ageing & Chronic Disease
Clinical Sciences Centre
University Hospital Aintree
Liverpool United Kingdom

MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study?

Dr. Wilding: This trial studied over 3700 obese people who were trying to lose weight. The main findings were that liraglutide (an injectable medication already approved for diabetes treatment at lower dose of 1.8mg) can help reduce body weight in people with obesity when used at a higher dose than is usually used in diabetes (3mg). Trial participants experienced a weight loss of 8 % from baseline compared to 2.6 % with placebo (diet and exercise alone).

Some risk factors for diabetes and heart disease such as blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol also improved with liraglutide treatment to a greater extent than with placebo. The main side effects seen were nausea which in most cases resolved after a few weeks treatment; there were also more cases of gallstones (which could be due to weight loss) and a few more cases of acute pancreatitis in people treated with liraglutide.

MedicalResearch: Were any of the findings unexpected?

Dr. Wilding: The finding are consistent with what is already known about liraglutide as used for diabetes treatment, but show that the drug is effective at a higher dose for treatment of obesity.

MedicalResearch: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?

Dr. Wilding: These results suggest liraglutide is effective and overall well tolerated for obesity treatment, however it should be noted that Liraglutide 3mg  is not approved for weight management as it is currently under regulatory review in the US and Europe,

MedicalResearch: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Dr. Wilding: Ongoing research is evaluating the effects of liraglutide in the longer term on prevention of diabetes over 3 years  in those people with prediabetes (about 2/3 of those enrolled in the current study).

Citation:

Abstract Presented at the 2014 EUROPEAN CONGRESS ON OBESITY

Efficacy and safety of liraglutide 3.0 mg for weight management in overweight and obese adults: The SCALE™ Obesity and Prediabetes, a randomised, double-blind and placebo-controlled trial

Last Updated on January 17, 2015 by Marie Benz MD FAAD