The UK’s National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (Nice) is on the verge of approving a weekly jab in an effort to shrink the ever-growing waistlines of the nation, according to RT News.
Trials showed the treatment, known as Wegovy, to be as effective as a gastric band. On average, trialists lost almost 2.5 stone (15.8kg), compared with those given a placebo. It was hailed as a “game-changer” last year by researchers. One-third of those taking part in the trial lost an average of a fifth of their total body weight. Those who’d received the drug lost five times more than those in the placebo group.
The revolutionary once-a-week Wegovy jab — which experts believe could play a major role in combating the country’s obesity crisis — was given the green light by the drug watchdog NICE. Scientific studies have shown that fat-busting medicine works as well as gastric band surgery.
One trial showed patients given the treatment lost an average of nearly two-and-a-half stone (35lbs) in little over a year, while those given a placebo lost 6lbs. University of Liverpool researchers who led the study described the drug as a ‘game changer’.
Wegovy works by hijacking the body’s own appetite-regulating system in the brain, leading to reduced hunger cravings and calorie intake. NICE has recommended the drug for people in England and Wales who have a BMI of 35 — making them morbidly obese, the fattest possible category — and have at least one weight-related comorbidity.
