For decades, Americans have fought a losing battle with obesity. Between 1960 and 2010, the prevalence of adult obesity in the United States nearly tripled, to 36 percent from 13 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It is not as if Americans do not recognize the problem. According to 2018 data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, just under half of adults in the United States (49.1 percent) tried to lose weight in the prior 12 months. Nevertheless, according to CDC data, the obesity rate that year rose to a record 42.4 percent.

But a new weight-loss drug that produced jaw-dropping clinical trial results in early 2021 may be the ammunition needed to help turn the tide.

Semaglutide, an injectable drug already approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for Type 2 diabetes, produced moderate weight loss at its dose of 1 milligram weekly. The new trials at UAB and other medical centers around the country, known as STEP, were studying the potential of a higher dose, 2.4 mg. The results, released in February, were important enough to warrant prominent placement in the New England Journal of Medicine for the STEP 1 trial results and Journal of the American Medical Association for STEP 3 trial results, and a major feature in the New York Times.

Participants lost an average of 37 pounds through the combination of semaglutide and behavioral intervention in the STEP 3 trial.

Read More at https://www.uab.edu/news/research/item/11961-who-will-benefit-from-new-game-changing-weight-loss-drug-semaglutide