MIRACLE FLAB JAB
New weight-loss jab ‘helps obese patients shed 10lbs in just four weeks’
A NEW weight-loss jab could help overweight patients shed 10lbs in just four weeks, experts have found.
The injection, dubbed the "best anti-obesity treatment yet", is better than a gastric bypass op - as it comes with no side effects.
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It speeds up weight loss thanks to a cocktail of hormones to burn off fat.
And tests showed it helped diabetic patients' blood sugar levels return to near normal levels within a month.
Holy Grail
Volunteers - all of whom had type 2 diabetes - lost an average of 9.7lbs - nearly twice as much as a control group given a saline solution. They lost an average of just 5.5lbs.
One of the participants shed a staggering 11.7lbs.
An injection or pill is the Holy Grail in the fight against the obesity epidemic - as almost one in three adults are overweight or obese.
Professor Tricia Tan, from Imperial College London, said: "There is a real need to find new medicines so we can improve and save the lives of many patients.
"Obesity and type 2 diabetes can lead to very serious and potentially life-threatening conditions, such as cancer, stroke and heart disease.
"Compared to other methods the treatment is non-invasive and reduced glucose levels to near-normal levels in our patients.";
Jab mimics op
The jab mimics having a gastric band fitted - but without the side effects of surgery.
While the op is often successful it can cause complications such as abdominal pain, chronic nausea, vomiting and debilitating low blood sugar levels.
Previous studies by Prof Tan's team have shown gastric band ops work because three specific hormones that originate in the bowels are released in higher levels.
The chemical combination, known as GOP, reduces appetite, causes weight loss and improves the body's ability to use the sugar absorbed from food.
Taking their experiments further the team wanted to see if injecting the same hormones would have the same effect.
Fifteen patients with type 2 diabetes were given the GOP treatment for four weeks, using a pump that slowly injected the mixture under the skin for 12 hours.
It began releasing the hormones an hour before breakfast each day, and finished after the volunteers' last meal.
Treatment without side effects
Prof Tan's team said it was important to note the volunteers suffered no side effects.
"Although this is a small study our new combination hormone treatment is promising and has shown significant improvements in patients' health in only four weeks," she said.
The trial took place at Hammersmith Hospital in London, part of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
Patients were randomly selected, with eleven others receiving a salt water injection as a placebo.
The researchers also compared their results with a group of 21 patients who had gastric bypass surgery, and 22 who followed a low-calorie diet.
Those who had bariatric surgery or followed the low-calorie diet lost significantly more weight - 22.7lbs and 18.3lbs respectively over the same time period.
Better than surgery
But Prof Tan added: "Although the weight loss was smaller, using the GOP infusion would be preferable as it has fewer side effects than bariatric surgery.
"This result shows it is possible to obtain some of the benefits of a gastric bypass operation without undergoing the surgery itself.
"If further trials are successful, in future we could potentially give this type of treatment to many more patients."
The team also found GOP treatment was capable of lowering blood glucose to near-normal, with little variation.
Patients who had surgery also had an overall improvement in blood glucose.
But the levels were much more variable, leaving them vulnerable to low blood glucose.
MORE WEIGHT LOSS TIPS
Prof Tan's team now aim to carry out larger clinical trials, assessing the jab over a longer period of time.
Being overweight or obese increases a person's risk of deadly diseases including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and 13 types of cancer.
The study published in Diabetes Care was presented at a meeting of the American Diabetes Association in San Francisco.
The research was funded by the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) and the NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre.
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