Liraglutide caused weight loss of 4-7 lbs after one year

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Thursday, September 25, 2008 5:52 am Email this article
At a dose of 1.2 mg per day, the once-daily diabetes drug called liraglutide caused diabetics to lose an average of 7.1 pounds in a year if they experienced nausea for more than seven days, and an average of 4.1 pounds if they did not.

The drug is not yet approved for sale in the U.S.

At a dose of 1.8 mg, the average weight loss was 7.5 pounds for those who experienced nausea for more than seven days, and an average of 5 pounds for those who did not.

This compared to a weight loss of 3.1 pounds for those given Amaryl (glimepiride) who experienced nausea for more than 7 days, and a weight gain of 2.7 pounds for those who did not. Side Effects

Side effects: Nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting

“Common side-effects of liraglutide treatment include gastrointestinal side-effects, such as nausea, diarrhoea, and vomiting,” the paper notes.

Twenty-nine (29) of the 251 patientson 1.2 mg of liraglutide—11.5 percent—experience nausea for more than 7 days.

Thirty-eight (38) of the 247 patients on 1.8 mg of liraglutide —15.4 percent—experience nausea for more than 7 days.

Nine (9) of the 248 patients on 8 mg of Amaryl (glimepiride) —3.6 percent—experience nausea for more than 7 days.

 

Subjects

Subjects: 746 type 2 diabetics

The study which lasted one year involved 746 people with early type 2 diabetics; 251 received 1.2 mg of liraglutide, 247 received 1.8 mg of liraglutide, and 248 received 8 mg of Amaryl (glimepiride).

 

Comment

Comment: Beware of all diabetes drugs

Julian Whitaker, MD opened my eyes to the research about diabetes drugs, noting that research going back 30 years has failed to show much benefit at all from any diabetes drugs.

Research on some diabetes drugs shows that while they lower blood sugar, they increase the risk of heart attack and death. Not good.

If I was told to take a diabetes drug, I would think long and hard about it and do plenty of research before making my decision.

If it were me, I would not focus on the effect of these drugs on blood sugar control, but instead I would look for studies that reported how many people died who were on the drug compared to how many people died who were given the placebo.

I would also ignore anything that the drug company or the researchers said about patients who had a heart attack or died.

In every study I’ve seen that has come out in the last 20 years or so, they always say something like, “We don’t think it had anything to do with the drug.”

You can ignore this. It’s nonsense.

They have to say this to protect themselves from lawsuits.

If someone dies while taking a drug, it is safest to assume that the drug was the cause.

REFERENCE

Garber A, Henry R, Ratner R, Garcia-Hernandez PA, Rodriguez-Pattzi H, Olvera-Alvarez I, Hale PM, Zdravkovic M, Bode B. Liraglutide versus glimepiride monotherapy for type 2 diabetes (lead-3 mono): A randomised, 52-week, phase iii, double-blind, parallel-treatment trial. Lancet. 2008 Sep 24, published early on-line.

AUTHOR’S CONTACT INFORMATION

Dr Alan Garber
Professor of Medicine, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, and Molecular & Cellular Biology
Baylor College of Medicine
Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology & Metabolism
1709 Dryden, Suite 1000
Houston, TX 77030, USA
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