A new report has highlighted how a diabetes drug looks to be a better weight loss stimulant than one of the top-rated obesity medications. Published by the Lancet, the report focused on Type 2 diabetes treatment liraglutide, which is marketed as Victoza. The diabetes medication, it said, was twice as likely to induce weight loss in those using it than orlistat (marketed as Xenical). The report stressed that the drug was both an apparent hunger suppressant, and a diabetes treatment at the same time.

Weight Loss Drug

The effectiveness of Victoza as a weight loss drug, however, is allied to certain factors. It needs to be used on a daily basis and cost is an issue too - six months worth works out to around £500. Additional research into the drug is also needed to confirm whether it is truly viable as an obesity treatment, since the trial from which the Lancet study was produced lasted for only 20 weeks.

564 patients participated in all, and these were prescribed one of three different types of medication - Victoza, Xenical or a placebo. All of those involved dieted for all 20 weeks of the trial, as well as exercised. By the end of the trial period, over 75 per cent of those prescribed Victoza had lost a minimum of five per cent of their body weight. The same was true of 44 per cent of the Xenical patients, and 30 per cent of those who took a placebo. A five per cent weight loss was equivalent to over a stone.

"The reason why we think this drug [Victoza] is so intriguing is that it mimics a gut hormone called GLP-1 which is released in the small intestine after eating", head study author Professor Arne Astrup from the University of Copenhagen stated. He continued: "It tells the body to produce more insulin and the brain to stop eating. It is a naturally occurring satiety hormone. The problem is that it is eliminated from the blood stream within minutes. The company [Danish Pharma firm Novo Nordisk] has added a molecule to make it more resistant to elimination, so it lasts for a full day."

It should be noted that Professor Astrup is paid by Novo Nordisk for consultancy services, but his opinion is highly regarded within the medical industry.

"Taken as an oral treatment, orlistat has been shown to significantly reduce weight when used in conjunction with healthy low fat diet and is the most widely studied drug for obesity", the obesity drug Xenical's maker, Roche, stated.

"Its mechanism of action by impeding the absorption of fat can lead to long-term behavioural change and consequential weight loss has a positive impact on risk factors for cardiovascular disease."