Trying to lose weight? This diabetes drug may help you

New York: This is a good news for all those people who want to shed their extra kilos.

A new study has revealed that a new diabetes drug may help you reduce fat as a compound that mimics a naturally occurring hormone which regulates appetite.

The compound, semaglutide, has a chemical structure that is very similar to the hormone glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), which regulates both insulin secretion and appetite, researchers said.

Patrick M. O'Neil, a professor at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston and lead author, said "This randomised study of weight loss induced with semaglutide in people with obesity but without diabetes has shown the highest weight reductions yet seen for any pharmaceutical intervention."

Researchers recruited 957 participants for the study and out of that 35 percent were male.

IAll participants had a body mass index (BMI) of at least 30 but did not have diabetes. They were randomly assigned to seven different groups.

Five groups received different doses of semaglutide -- between 0.05 mg and 0.4 mg -- via injection once daily; a sixth group received a placebo, and a seventh group received 3 mg of the diabetes drug liraglutide.

After one year, all participants receiving semaglutide had lost significantly more weight than those receiving placebo. The higher the dose participants received, the greater their average weight loss.

Those receiving liraglutide lost an average of 7.8 percent of their body weight, while those in the placebo group lost only 2.3 percent on average.

Sixty five per cent of participants who received 0.4 mg of semaglutide per day lost at least 10 percent of their body weight, compared with 10 percent of those in the placebo group and 34 percent of the liraglutide group.

Researchers added the most common adverse events in those taking semaglutide were mild/moderate nausea, as seen previously with GLP-1 receptor agonists.

The study was presented at the ENDO 2018: The Endocrine Society's 100th Annual Meeting and Expo.

(With IANS inputs)