Obesity has become such a problem that it is to the point where 25% of Brits and 40% of Americans are considered to be obese. There are treatment options available but they come with unpleasant side effects. In search for a better option, researchers at Imperial College London have devised an innovative way to help obese patients through the weight loss process – it involves using an injection and a concoction of hormones. They’ve already conducted a small trial and it went well. The results have been published in the journal Diabetes Care.
This new treatment could be a more delicate choice instead of gastric bypass surgery. The thing with that surgery is that, although it’s extremely effective at keeping the weight off and improving blood sugar levels in people with diabetes, it can also cause vomiting, abdominal pain, chronic nausea, and debilitatingly low blood sugar levels. The hormone injection on the other hand is a non-invasive procedure that doesn’t cause any of those horrible side effects. It has been shown to boost weight loss by an average of 4.4 kilograms (9.7 pounds) and reduce blood sugar levels, which is not as much as gastric bypass but it’s good nonetheless.
The Study
- 69 diabetic and prediabetic patients were recruited for the trial.
- 15 of them were given the hormone mix of glucagon-like peptide 1, oxyntomodulin, and peptide YY (GOP). They underwent GOP treatment for 4 weeks using a pump that slowly injects the fluid under the skin for 12 hours. The pumping would start in the morning an hour before breakfast and finish after the final meal of the day. They also received dietary advice from a qualified dietitian.
- 11 of them were given a saline infusion as a placebo. They also received dietary advice from a qualified dietitian.
- 21 of them had undergone bariatric surgery.
- 22 of them had followed a calorie-restricted diet.
- All 69 patients used a glucose monitoring device to measure glucose levels post-treatment.
- The trial lasted for 4 weeks.
The Results
- Patients given GOP dropped an average of 4.4 kilograms (9.7 pounds) and saw significant improvements in blood sugar levels – for some, sugar concentrations returned to near-normal levels. They experienced no side effects.
- Those given the placebo lost an average of 2.5 kilograms (5.5 pounds).
- Those who had received bariatric surgery lost 10.3 kilograms (22.7 pounds).
- Those who stuck to a calorie-restricted diet lost 8.3 kilograms (18.3 pounds).
Lead author Tricia Tan, professor of Practice (Metabolic Medicine & Endocrinology) at Imperial College London, said in a statement:
Although the weight loss was smaller, using the GOP infusion would be preferable as it has fewer side effects than bariatric surgery. This result shows that it is possible to obtain some of the benefits of a gastric bypass operation without undergoing the surgery itself. If further trials are successful, in future we could potentially give this type of treatment to many more patients.
Obesity and type 2 diabetes can lead to very serious and potentially life-threatening conditions such as cancer, stroke and heart disease. There is a real need to find new medicines so we can improve and save the lives of many patients. Although this is a small study our new combination hormone treatment is promising and has shown significant improvements in patients’ health in only four weeks. Compared to other methods the treatment is non-invasive and reduced glucose levels to near-normal levels in our patients.
A larger clinical trial is needed to confirm the results as this trial was too small to really be certain. They also need to monitor the long-term health impacts on patients to fully understand its benefits. Nevertheless, the results are promising.
