Jaw-dropping results of three year weight loss drug study where a third of participants were given placebo
A lengthy study into the impact weight loss drugs have on other parts of the body has produced some impressive results, even in some people who didn't actually get the drug.
Recent times have seen plenty of people get into injecting themselves with semaglutide in the form of drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy, with some impressive results.
While most people buy them privately you can actually get prescribed Wegovy for weight loss on the NHS, though Ozempic is still something only diabetics can get a prescription for.
The drugs have proven that they can have a significant impact on weight loss, though they've also been shown to have other positive impacts on your health as well.
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Plenty of people on these drugs will also be on them for quite a long time too, as Professor Giles Yeo previously told LADbible that many people would quickly regain the weight without the jab telling them they didn't need to each so much.
It's helpful to know what sort of impact taking these drugs can have over a longer term, and a lengthy study known as the 'ESSENCE trials' has been looking at just that, though not everyone got the actual drugs.
The study
Researchers gathered together 1,197 patients from 37 countries who were suffering from MASH, otherwise known as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.
Two-thirds of the group would get a weekly injection of semaglutide at a dose of 2.4mg, which coincidentally is the maximum dose of semaglutide-based drug Wegovy, while the remaining third were on a placebo drug.
MASH is a life threatening form of liver disease caused by having too much fat in the liver, and is closely linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
The long-term study wanted to see what impact semaglutide might have on it, which could mean weight loss drugs would have a similar impact.
The study was led by Professor Philip Newsome of King’s College London and Arun Sanyal of the VCU School of Medicine, and funded by Novo Nordisk which makes Ozempic and Wegovy.
The results
Results after the first 72 weeks of the study found that 62.9 percent of people taking semaglutide had inflammation in their liver reduced.
These are the results of the first 800 participants in the study, and researchers also found improvements in the liver fibrosis of 36.8 percent of those on the drug in the study.
Some other benefits were observed, including weight loss among the participants (which is unsurprising considering what they were taking) and other signs that their liver was working better.
However, among this group the study did record some of the common side effects of weight loss drugs including nausea, diarrhoea and vomiting.
The placebo group
Interestingly, some of the people who weren't actually on the drug themselves also had some improved liver health.
34.3 percent of people on the placebo also found their liver inflammation situation had improved and 22.4 percent improvement in liver fibrosis.
These people thought they were on semaglutide and it's interesting to note that some members of this third of the study also experienced the health benefits.
Joe Harker