What Is Saxenda, the New 'Blockbuster' Weight Loss Medication?

There is a new "blockbuster" weight loss drug on the market, Saxenda, and it is available in many U.S. pharmacies this month. It is perhaps the most important weight loss medication ever developed. Novo Nordisk Inc., a very big and very old Danish pharmaceutical company, has launched the new drug after months of anticipation by consumers, clinicians and market watchers. Saxenda is very different from all other weight loss drugs. For one thing, it is a once-a-day injection, like some diabetes medications, instead of a pill. For another, it works in an entirely different way, mimicking a naturally-occurring hormone that your intestine secretes when you eat food. In research conducted only in the last few decades, scientists have discovered that the gut releases a hormone when you eat food that helps regulate the levels of sugar in your blood and slows down the emptying of your stomach. This results in feelings of satiety and a reduction in sensations of hunger and desire to eat. The hormone-mimicking drug in Saxenda, Liraglutide, was originally marketed as Victoza, prescribed to treat diabetes. It was discovered that a "side effect" of Victoza was weight loss. Saxenda is essentially a double dose of Victoza, and after much testing, the FDA approved it for weight loss in December of 2014. One-year studies show that over 60 percent of people using Saxenda had a 5 percent reduction in weight while trying to lose weight, as opposed to 34 percent taking a placebo. Thirty-one...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news