Not too long ago, Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk shared the preliminary information about CagriSema, the following technology of semaglutide, offered as Ozempic for the therapy of diabetes, and Wegovy for weight problems, as a game-changer. It has been predicted to cut back weight reduction by about 25 per cent in half the time that Wegovy takes. However can these new medicine exchange typical therapies for diabetes on a big scale?
That’s the query that Dr KP Singh, former college, the Division of Endocrinology, PGI and at present the Director, Endocrinology, Fortis Hospital, Mohali, has raised, arguing why we must always not ignore typical medicine and therapies. “GLP-1 receptor agonists like semaglutide have revolutionised the method to treating each diabetes and weight problems. However understand that most sufferers are nonetheless managed by oral medicines to deal with diabetes and never injections, no less than within the early phases,” he explains.
Who ought to use these medicine?
These medicine aren’t merely “weight reduction photographs”, accomplished on a whim. There are sufficient examples of how they’ve gone unsuitable in individuals who merely wished to knock off the kilos and who have been riddled with uncomfortable side effects like gastro-intestinal issues. Final 12 months’s examine within the journal Weight problems had revealed that of individuals prescribed weight-loss medicine, simply 44 per cent have been nonetheless taking them after three months and solely 19 per cent after one 12 months. One other examine confirmed that those that stopped therapy with Mounjaro (one other GLP-1 drug) regained round 60 per cent of their misplaced weight. Simply as these medicine drive you to shed pounds, their withdrawal can push you to return to outdated habits sooner than you suppose. Apart from, are you able to proceed on these medicine lifelong?
Frankly, these are medical interventions meant for sufferers with diabetes, weight problems or weight-related well being situations and are particularly useful for sufferers with coronary heart illness. These medicines will not be acceptable for beauty weight reduction or short-term use.
Is the load loss dialog overplayed?
The medicine are very efficient with medical trials of semaglutide displaying common weight reductions of round 15 per cent in medical trials. Nonetheless, we should do not forget that weight problems is a fancy power illness requiring complete administration. These medicines work greatest as a part of a holistic method together with dietary modifications, bodily exercise and behavioural adjustments. The maximal profit of those medicine requires steady long-term use and grading the dose over time to keep up or attain a particular response or to lower the danger of hostile results.
Are typical therapies for diabetes changing into irrelevant?
No. Typical therapies nonetheless have a significant function to play in diabetes administration as these injectable medicine ought to be thought of first-line remedy in sufferers with coronary heart illness and those that require an injectable remedy from the get-go. Regardless of GLP-1, many sufferers would require a number of medicines to regulate their blood sugars and obtain their objective.
Additionally, pregnant girls, sufferers with acute problems from diabetes, or sufferers who want to regulate their blood sugar ranges quickly (e.g. main as much as main surgical procedure) nonetheless require conventional diabetes medicines like insulin. Sufferers with pancreatic illness, Sort 1 diabetes, gallstones or these with tumours of the endocrine glands shouldn’t take GLP1 medicine.
How is CagriSema totally different from Ozempic and Wegovy?
The energetic ingredient of Ozempic and Wegovy is semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RAs). This mimics the intestine hormone GLP-1, which promotes the manufacturing of insulin, regulates blood sugar ranges, slows the emptying of the abdomen, and impacts the world of the mind that controls satiety. CagriSema, along with mimicking GLP-1, mimics two different intestine hormones. The primary is amylin, a hormone that’s co-secreted with insulin within the pancreas and regulates blood sugar ranges, slows digestion and enhances satiety. It additionally mimics calcitonin, a hormone that regulates calcium ranges within the blood. Calcium performs a job in insulin secretion.
Waiting for CagriSema – it’s at present beneath investigation and our centre is a significant web site for key medical trials investigating its use in lots of medical situations. The info from early-phase trials is promising, however we should keep scientific rigour in assessing all new therapies. We are going to want the outcomes from the continuing giant trials to evaluate the efficacy and long-term security profile of CagriSema and look ahead to approval from regulatory our bodies.
These medicines characterize vital advances in our therapeutic arsenal, however they’re not magic bullets. The way forward for metabolic well being administration lies in personalised approaches that fastidiously match the suitable therapy to the suitable affected person on the proper time, food plan and train.
