Drop 2 sizes in six months with a jab
Struggling hard to shed the flab? Fret not. Now, there’s a new weapon in the battle against the bulge, thanks to scientists who claim to have developed a jab which could help an obese drop two dress sizes in six months.
A team at Danish firm Novo Nordisk has developed the diet drug, called liraglutide, which it says could be available in the market in just three years — it can also lower blood pressure levels, raise “good” cholesterol and help control diabetes, the Daily Mail reported.
Liraglutide, which, like insulin, can be injected from a pen, is based on a gut hormone which tells the brain that it is time to stop eating but broken down within minutes of being produced. In contrast, the drug stays in the body for hours.
The scientists are currently carrying out large-scale, definitive trials on 5,000 obese men and women. And, these are expected to finish in 2013, they say. In the first phase of the trials, nearly 550 male and female volunteers, who’ve struggled with their weight for years, lost an average of a stone-and-a-half over six months, according to the findings.
In that trial, some subjects were given daily doses. Others were given dummy pills.
Those who took liraglutide lost an average of a stone- and-a-half over six months — more than twice as much as those on some dummy pills.
In addition, 28 per cent of those on the highest dose of liraglutide shed at least 10 per cent of their weight.
The women dropped an average of three inches from their waistline, while male pot bellies also shrank. When they continued to take the drug for a further 18 months, the weight stayed off. But those on dummy pills began to pile the pounds.
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