Semaglutide for the treatment of obesity – a review

Abstract

Increasing rates of obesity and its comorbidities continue to place a burden on individuals and health systems. Lifestyle interventions, although effective, are not always successful in long term management. The use of existing medicinal strategies, such as sibutramine and orlistat have not been very successful due to their own limitations. Semaglutide is a glucagon-like peptide-1 analogue that has been utilized in type 2 diabetes mellitus treatment. Its use in weight management has been recently explored in several studies. A review of literature can provide insight into whether semaglutide is a potential avenue for long term and sustainable weight loss. All studies reviewed identified that study participants on semaglutide experienced a significantly higher overall weight loss than placebo and most other comparison treatments. There were gastrointestinal adverse events recorded in most studies, but these did not seem to have an impact on the overall weight loss. Semaglutide provides a promising avenue for weight loss in obese and overweight individuals, although further research on management avenues for the GI events may ensure long term and sustained use. Key words: semaglutide, obesity, weight loss