This pill may treat diabetes; help patients shed those extra kilos

A team of researchers has recently created a new pill that can significantly improve the health of people with diabetes and help to shed those extra kilos from their waistlines.

The findings indicated that among patients with type 2 diabetes, the drug semaglutide taken by pill resulted in better glycemic control than placebo over 26 weeks.

The results from 632 patients indicated that semaglutide allowed 71 percent of them to shed pounds.

It is believed this is the first type 2 diabetes pill to instigate weight loss.

Although several type 2 diabetes treatments are available, therapy selection involves consideration of the risks of adverse effects such as hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) or weight gain and complexity of treatment.

The oral formulation of semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists (a class of drugs used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes), may improve acceptance and adherence for some patients compared with the injectable formulation of GLP-1 receptor agonists.

Melanie Davies from the University of Leicester, United Kingdom, and colleagues randomly assigned 632 patients with Type-2 diabetes and insufficient glycemic control to different doses and dose escalation of once-daily oral semaglutide; oral placebo; or once-weekly semaglutide by injection (subcutaneous) for 26 weeks.

They found that average change in hemoglobin Alc (HbA1c) level, from baseline to week 26, decreased with oral semaglutide and subcutaneous semaglutide and placebo; oral semaglutide reductions were significant vs placebo.

From an average baseline HbA1c level of 7.9 percent, between 44 percent and 90 percent of patients receiving oral semaglutide achieved the target HbA1c level of less than seven percent.

Clinically relevant (five percent or more) weight loss was achieved in up to 71 percent of patients receiving oral semaglutide.

The research is published in The Jama Network Journals.