When you purchase through links on our site , we may earn an affiliate commission . Here ’s how it works .

A diabetes drug may also be a promising discussion forobesity — in a new study , people taking the drug lost a stunning 15 % of their body weighting , which is more than has been see with any other obesity drug on the market .

The drug , known as semaglutide , is an injectable medication that ’s already approved to help control line of descent sugar levels in mass withType 2 diabetes . But the drug also suppresses appetite .

Beautiful woman holding her arms in the air, Black Mountains, Powys, Snowdonia, Wales, UK.

relate : The best way to lose system of weights safely

In the newfangled study , bring out Wednesday ( Feb. 10 ) inThe New England Journal of Medicine , researchers randomly assigned 1,961 grownup who were rotund or fleshy to receive semaglutide or a placebo as an injectant once a hebdomad for 68 hebdomad . Participants also received counseling sessions once a month to help them adhere to a reduce - calorie dieting , and they were encouraged to increase their physical activity .

By the end of the study , those who received semaglutide lost 14.9 % of their trunk weight , on mediocre , equate with just 2.4 % of torso weight in the placebo chemical group .

a top view of colorful pills spread across a surface

Five other drugs are approved to treat obesity , but even the most effective of these drugs lead in about 7.5 % weightiness loss , according toThe New York Times . And these drug can typically be used for only scant periods of clock time , the Times reported . For exemplar , the free weight loss drug phentermine is typically taken for 3 to 6 weeks , according to theNational Institutes of Health , a much little amount of time than the 68 - calendar week treatment with semaglutide used in the study .

" This is the beginning of a new epoch of effective handling for obesity , " Dr. Robert F. Kushner , an obesity research worker at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine , who led the field of study , told the Times .

People who bring semaglutide were more likely to experience GI side effects , including nausea , diarrhea , puking and stultification , compared with the placebo group . But these side effects run to be temporary .

a person holds a GLP-1 injector

— 5 direction gut bacterium strike your health

— The 7 biggest closed book of the human body

— 11 surprising fact about the immune system

A headshot of Jens Holst in the centre against an enlarged, blurred version of the same photo.

The study also did not look at the drug ’s effects beyond 68 weeks , and people would in all probability require to stay on the drug for biography to prevent their exercising weight from coming back , the Times reported .

And weight loss drug that appear to do well in trials may not be as effective in existent - world mise en scene , according to CNN . What ’s more , several weight red drugs that achieved favorable reception from the Food and Drug Administration were afterwards recalled because of side force , CNN reported .

The study was funded by the God Almighty of semaglutide , Novo Nordisk . The Danish pharmaceutical company has already put in an program with the FDA for approving of semaglutide for chronic weight unit management , allot to CNN .

a photo of burgers and fries next to vegetables

Originally publish on Live Science .

An illustration of bacteria in the gut

a close-up of fat cells under a microscope

An electron microscope image showing cells and their nuclei

man pictured checking his smartwatch while outside with headphones around his neck, as if taking a break from exercise

a fruit bat down hanging from a fruit tree branch covered with small red berries

vegetables for diabetics

vegan diet for diabetes

An image comparing the relative sizes of our solar system�s known dwarf planets, including the newly discovered 2017 OF201

a view of a tomb with scaffolding on it

an illustration showing a large disk of material around a star

A small phallic stalagmite is encircled by a 500-year-old bracelet carved from shell with Maya-like imagery

A man with light skin and dark hair and beard leans back in a wooden boat, rowing with oars into the sea

an abstract illustration depicting the collision of subatomic particles