Summary The ‘breakthrough’ obesity drugs that have stunned researchers www.nature.com
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Researchers are developing drugs like Tirzepatide and Semaglutide to help with obesity, which has a biological basis that was discovered by Jeffrey Friedman in 1994 and is being further studied at ObesityWeek 2022.
Key Points
- Obesity is a growing global epidemic, affecting 40% of adults classified as overweight and 13% obese according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
- Drugs such as tirzepatide and semaglutide are being developed to help people with obesity, which act through biological mechanisms and can lead to a 20% drop in body weight.
- Organizations like the OAC are pushing pharmaceutical companies to offer affordability programmes to make these drugs more accessible.
- Nature.com is an online platform featuring videos, podcasts, books and culture, careers, research analysis, opinion, news, and research articles.
- It contains quick links and an advanced search option, an editorial policy, guide to authors, job search option, and articles by subject.
- Nature.com also offers a Nature Briefing newsletter with science stories of the day.
Summaries
172 word summary
Researchers believe that biology plays a role in the causes of obesity and new drugs are being developed to help. Springer Nature provides information and resources related to the topic, including a Nature Briefing newsletter. Eli Lilly has developed a drug, Tirzepatide, which has been found to cause a 21% drop in body weight. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also approved drugs like Semaglutide which can lead to a 14.9% drop in body weight.
Jeffrey Friedman discovered leptin, a hormone that induces a feeling of fullness, in 1994, revolutionizing thinking about the biological basis of obesity and appetite regulation. At ObesityWeek in San Diego in 2022, researchers presented a drug trial that achieved a 20% weight loss. WHO recommends lifestyle changes but also acknowledges that medication can supplement these changes.
Nature.com is an online platform featuring videos, podcasts, books, culture, careers, research analysis, opinion, news, and research articles. It also offers quick links and an advanced search option and uses cookies for personalizing content, social media features, and analytics.
371 word summary
Nature.com is an online platform featuring videos, podcasts, books, culture, careers, research analysis, opinion, news, and research articles. It contains quick links and an advanced search option and uses cookies for personalizing content, social media features, and analytics.
At ObesityWeek in San Diego in 2022, researchers presented a drug trial that achieved a 20% weight loss in one-third of teenage participants with lifestyle changes and weekly injections of semaglutide. This promising result showed the energy that has pervaded the field of obesity medicine in recent years. 40% of adults are classified as overweight and 13% obese according to the World Health Organization (WHO), who recommend lifestyle changes but also acknowledge that medication can supplement these changes.
A new class of drugs known as incretins mimic hormones to lower blood sugar and curb appetite. Jeffrey Friedman discovered in 1994 that a faulty gene encoded leptin, a hormone that induces a feeling of fullness and revolutionized thinking about the biological basis of obesity and appetite regulation.
In the 2000s, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began approving drugs that mimicked GLP-1 as type 2 diabetes treatments and noticed participants in clinical trials losing weight due to GLP-1’s effect on receptors in the brain and gut. Semaglutide, a modified version of liraglutide, was approved for weight loss in 2021 and led to a 14.9% drop in body weight after 16 months of treatment. Eli Lilly plans to apply for tirzepatide to be approved in 2023. Tirzepatide, a drug developed by Eli Lilly, has been found to cause a 21% drop in body weight, much more effective than other pharmacological methods. It works by mimicking two hormones involved in insulin secretion: GLP-1 and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP). There are concerns that it could reinforce the disputed link between weight and health. Organizations like the OAC are pushing for affordability programmes to make drugs more accessible.
Researchers believe that biology plays a significant role in the complex combination of causes for obesity and new drugs are being developed as promising add-ons. Springer Nature provides information and resources related to Drug discovery and Obesity topics with related articles and downloads, job postings, and more. They offer a Nature Briefing newsletter with science stories of the day.
1007 word summary
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The website also provides information on Drug discovery and Obesity topics with related articles and downloads. There are job postings available and articles such as Post-translational control of beige fat biogenesis by PRDM16 stabilization (17 AUG 22), The vicious cycle of depression and obesity (24 AUG 22), Almost half of cancer deaths are preventable (31 AUG 22), Three ways to combat antimicrobial resistance (14 DEC 22), Biomedical breakthroughs come of age (14 DEC 22) and Why children have to wait years for new drugs (19 DEC 22). Many researchers believe that biology plays a significant role in the complex combination of causes for obesity. Treatment typically involves eating healthily and exercising, but new drugs are being developed as promising add-ons. These drugs act through biological mechanisms, helping people understand that a person's body weight is often beyond their control through lifestyle changes alone.
Organizations like the OAC are pushing pharmaceutical companies to offer affordability programmes to make these drugs more accessible. While they are pricey, there is still a lot of demand for them. However, some worry that these drugs offer a quick fix and mistakenly view them as "vanity drugs". Nutter is concerned people might use weight-loss drugs to escape stigma rather than for health reasons. Some researchers worry that offering a weight-loss solution could reinforce the disputed link between weight and health. It's too early to tell who will respond to these drugs, and it's unknown if people will need to take them for life. Other approaches are being explored, such as triple agonists and biopharmaceutical drugs. Müller and colleagues developed molecules that mimic both GLP-1 and GIP hormones, but were initially criticized. Tirzepatide, a drug developed by Eli Lilly, has been found to cause a 21% drop in body weight, on average, at the highest dose. This is much more effective than other pharmacological methods, which typically lead to a 10% decrease. It works by mimicking two hormones involved in insulin secretion: GLP-1 and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP). Researchers are unsure why both hormones are necessary for weight loss, but it is possible GIP reduces the side effects of GLP-1 or drives weight loss on its own.
In 2021, semaglutide, a modified version of liraglutide that acts on the same pathways and might have better access to brain regions that regulate appetite, was approved for weight loss. It led to a 14.9% drop in body weight after 16 months of treatment, compared with 2.4% for placebo. These newer treatments also improve cardiovascular health. Eli Lilly plans to apply for tirzepatide to be approved in 2023. In the 2000s, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began approving drugs that mimicked GLP-1 as type 2 diabetes treatments. Scientists noticed that participants in clinical trials also lost weight, due to GLP-1’s effect on receptors in the brain and gut. Companies began to trial these drugs for weight loss, and by the mid-2010s, liraglutide was capable of eliciting an 8% loss in body weight.
Before leptin’s discovery, researchers had already been looking for hormones that regulate blood glucose levels and had found GLP-1. Research into pharmacological treatments followed, but these early drugs led to only modest weight loss and serious side effects.
In 1994, Jeffrey Friedman discovered that a faulty gene encoded leptin, a hormone that induces a feeling of fullness. This revolutionized thinking about the biological basis of obesity and appetite regulation.
Today, scientists can pharmacologically alter weight safely and with clinically relevant results. Research questions remain, including who will respond to treatment and whether people will have to take these drugs for life. Some worry that these drugs play into societies’ obsession with being thin and ignore that body size isn't always a good predictor of health. However, evidence is growing that most people's bodies have a natural size that can be hard to change. Obesity is a growing global epidemic, with 40% of adults classified as overweight and 13% obese according to the World Health Organization (WHO). To combat the issue, WHO recommends lifestyle changes; however, medication can be used to supplement these changes. A new class of drugs known as incretins mimics hormones to lower blood sugar and curb appetite. Approved for treating type 2 diabetes, these drugs are also gaining approval for weight loss.
At the ObesityWeek conference in San Diego in November 2022, researchers presented a drug trial that achieved a 20% weight loss in over one-third of teenage participants with lifestyle changes and weekly injections of semaglutide. This promising result was met with sustained applause, showing the energy that has pervaded the field of obesity medicine in recent years. Nature.com is an online platform featuring videos, podcasts, books and culture, careers, research analysis, opinion, news, and research articles. It contains quick links and an advanced search option. The website works best when using an up to date browser and supports CSS and JavaScript. It also has an editorial policy, guide to authors, job search option, and articles by subject. Nature.com uses cookies to ensure the website works properly and for personalizing content, social media features, and analytics. Users can manage their preferences and accept all cookies for further information found in the privacy policy.