Research
Hormonal
Semaglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist, produces significant weight loss (up to 15.8% at 68 weeks) and improves cardiovascular outcomes in patients with obesity or type 2 diabetes.
Semaglutide is a highly effective weekly injection for obesity and type 2 diabetes, achieving nearly 15% weight loss in clinical trials. It works by mimicking the GLP-1 hormone, which regulates hunger and digestion. It also offers cardiovascular benefits, reducing the risk of heart attack and stroke.
StrongSupportsHIGH confidence
The STEP 1 randomized controlled trial investigated semaglutide 2.4 mg weekly and found a body weight loss of −14.9% vs −2.4% with placebo at 68 weeks.
Why this rating
Supported by Phase 3 trials (STEP 1-5, SELECT).
Source
Pharmacotherapy for Obesity: Recent Updates
Thomas W. Fredrick et al. · Clinical Pharmacology Advances and Applications · 2025
DOI 10.2147/cpaa.s497904
narrative_review
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Tirzepatide, a dual GLP-1 and GIP receptor agonist, produces superior total body weight loss (up to 20.9% at 72 weeks) compared to placebo and other anti-obesity medications.Strong
- Orlistat, an anti-absorptive medication, produces modest weight loss (2.8-4.8% total body weight loss) by inhibiting gastric and pancreatic lipase.Good
Related findings · Hormonal
- Initial treatment for type 2 diabetes should be a combination of metformin and either an SGLT-2 inhibitor or a GLP-1 receptor agonist to achieve cardiorenal protection, rather than monotherapy or older agents like sulfonylureas.Strong
- For patients with specific monogenic obesity syndromes (leptin deficiency, POMC/PCSK1/LEPR mutations), targeted pharmacotherapy (recombinant leptin or setmelanotide) is highly effective and should be prioritized, unlike in polygenic obesity.Strong
- Continued weekly administration of 2.4 mg subcutaneous semaglutide prevents weight regain and promotes further weight loss in adults with overweight or obesity, whereas switching to placebo results in significant weight regain.Strong
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