New Diabetes Medication Approved by FDA, Helps with Weight Loss

Learn more about the many added benefits to the new diabetes medication recently approved by the FDA for use in the U.S.

A new diabetes medication, produced by Danish company Novo Nordisk, has recently been approved for use in the United States by the Federal Drug Administration. The medication is called Ozempic and it is a once weekly injection that has been shown in large clinical trails of over eight thousand people to reduce blood glucose two and a half times more than the daily diabetes medication Sitagliptin.

The new diabetes medication works by increasing the body’s ability to produce insulin by mimicking an intestinal hormone. An added benefit to this new diabetes medication is that participants in the studies who took Ozempic lost two or three times more body weight than the those who did not.

This added benefit has produced a lot of interest since the announcement of the drug’s release by Novo Nordisk. The new diabetes medication weight loss benefits are part of what is hoped patients and doctors will find more attractive than previous diabetes medications.

However, it is noted that the new diabetes medication is intended to be used in conjunction with lifestyle changes like proper diet and exercise. Together the new diabetes medication and life style changes can help patients suffering from type 2 diabetes more effectively meet their A1c goals, improve their quality of life and avoid the serious damaging effects of poorly treated type 2 diabetes.

Novo Nordisk is also working on a new pill for type 2 diabetes to eventually add an alternative to the weekly injections.

Demand for diabetes medication is high because type 2 diabetes is a common disease in the United States with more than 28 million people currently affected. Diabetes causes cardiovascular problems, nervous system problems, problems with various organs and severe foot and leg problems that may require amputation.

Type 2 diabetes is developed or made worse by poor diet and having an inactive lifestyle. This disease is problematic and expensive for individuals and society because there is no cure and it presently requires life long treatment.

The American Diabetes Association has even reported that the estimated cost of type 1 and 2 diabetes is around 174 billion a year in 2007 when considering not just the cost of medical care but that of lost productivity associated with the disease.

A new pill for type 2 diabetes is also in high demand for patients who have medical conditions that make receiving injections problematic in addition to pills being painless and more convenient.

Since weight gain and dietary problems have long been linked to the development of type 2 diabetes the new diabetes medication weight loss benefit may be helping to tackle the disease at its source.

Eventually a new pill for type 2 diabetes with weight loss effects may be part of making type 2 diabetes a more manageable disease with less problematic consequences for the lives of the people who suffer from it.

Side effects for the new diabetes medication seem to be similar to previous diabetes medication. These include problems such as low blood glucose levels, kidney problems and blurred vision. It should be noted that the incidence of reported side effects in the studies was less that 5 percent.

However the new diabetes medication weight loss effects are in stark contrast to the common side effect of weight gain in other older diabetes medications. Novo Nordisk has reported that the new diabetes medication will cost approximately the same, making the financial side effects of having type 2 diabetes about the same compared to previous medication.

It is thought that the benefits of the new diabetes medication together with the similar cost will be powerful factors in its adoption by doctors and insurance companies.