Obesity is one of the biggest problems affecting human health today and is one of the biggest concerns. Obesity is now a greater concern than smoking. It is also one of the primary causes of death in the United States and worldwide, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some types of cancer.
Are Dieting and Exercising Enough?
While obesity is on the rise, we would like to know if there is a simpler solution to the problem? A healthy balanced diet combined with physical activity is one of the best ways to prevent weight gain, but it may not be a particularly great way to treat obesity. Consuming around 1,000 kcal per day, can help a person reduce 10-15kg in 12 weeks. If you want to go higher on the calorie front, you may lose 7 kg a year.
However, you may regain the weight you lost. So, maybe these methods will help you lose weight, but they may not be sustainable in the long run. To this date, none of the weight loss has been particularly effective, and some of them may have horrifying side effects, such as elevated blood pressure levels or even cause anal leakage. Bariatric surgery, in this case, may work, but it also has long-term side-effects.
The Science Behind Weight Loss
One loses weight when the intestines secret peptide hormones. It reduces the food energy intake and regulating the appetite. One of the reasons that bariatric surgery is so effective is that it transforms how the gut responds to food intake and connects to the brain.
Ileum secrets GLP-1 or Glucagon at the end of the small intestine, when you consume carb-rich foods. This kickstarts the insulin synthesis and causes secretion in the pancreas, but it also may affect the stomach, reducing the movements of the digestive system and secretion of acid.
A Potential Treatment for Type 2 Diabetes and Obesity
Recently the New England Journal published its findings from a double-blind trial in healthy, obese patients without any chronic diseases. The research was about the one involving Semaglutide. Semaglutide is a drug that mimics GLP-1 created to treat diabetes and led to drastic weight loss in patients who have type 2 diabetes.
A study on 1,961 patients, with over 75 percent of the subjects as women had some impressive findings. The research subjects were also 75 percent white, 13 percent Asian, and 6 percent were black, whose average body mass index was around 38. They split the group into two, with one of them getting a Semaglutide injection, and the other, the control group, were receiving a placebo for 68 weeks. Both groups also followed a specific diet and lifestyle advice.
The participating group injected with the Semaglutide group lost 15.3 kg, whereas the control group lost 2.6kg in the control group. Yes, the difference between the two groups was a whopping 12.7kg weight loss.
A Promising Treatment Option but Not a Magic Bullet
The treatment helped them drop the extra weight, but the people dropped their blood pressure levels by 5.1mmHg, and patients also felt better. There were minor side effects, though, such as nausea, sometimes vomiting, and diarrhea.
However, people who were undergoing active treatment experienced gastrointestinal disorders. The people may also face problems like gallbladder disease and pancreatitis. At the same time, this trial may show that Semaglutide helps in greater weight loss than any other drug used for obesity. We still do not know the impact of the medicine in the long run.
Weight loss is important, and it is more important to stop oneself from regaining weight. The only way to stop regaining the weight is to continue to eat healthily and stop snacking on unhealthy food. Semaglutide certainly seems a promising treatment option for obesity.
Unhealthy eating habits are still a no-no, much like a vaccine where you will have to continue taking the precautions even if you get a vaccination for a particular condition. So, is it an answer to all our obesity issues? Well, only time will tell, and you can watch this space for more. Until then, we still have to continue to eat well and exercise to drop the extra weight. And not to forget, we have to embrace a healthy lifestyle to ensure we do not fall sick or gain additional pounds.