This week the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) approved the first injectable medication against obesity and overweight.
The injection is called Wegovy and has semaglutide as its active ingredient.
THE CNN Radio the director of the Brazilian Society of Endocrinology and Metabology Regional of São Paulo Ricardo Barroso said that the news is seen as positive in the endocrinological environment.
“The medication is already sold in places like the United States and Japan with excellent results”, he said.
According to the endocrinologist, the drug is the most effective among all those available against obesity.
He explained that Wegovy acts on “gastrointestinal hormones and simulates the effect of bariatric surgery.”
This type of procedure makes the person physically eat less, but there are also hormonal changes and “the medicine simulates that.”
“The result comes close to some surgeries, reaching 17% of weight lost.”
Semaglutide, as stated by Barroso, is a hormone similar to GLP1, which is produced when we eat.
“It signals to the brain that enough food has arrived and brings a feeling of satiety, the stomach feels that it has had enough.”
With this medication, then, “it signals this to the brain before eating the amount you were used to.”
The doctor also reinforced that the injection has a “very good cardiovascular and neurological safety profile.”
At the same time, however, he claims that the medicine does not work magic, in the sense that there is no way to accelerate the metabolism and maintain the high caloric expenditure for weight loss.
“That is why it is important to follow up with nutritionists and physical education professionals, since the fight against obesity is multifactorial.”
Injection availability
Despite Anvisa’s approval, Ricardo Barroso said that “there is still no official forecast of when it will be commercially available.”
He calculates that it should take around six months, and the cost should only be known after evaluation by another agency, CMED.
“If we take the costs of similar drugs, we know that they are not accessible, they are very expensive, we believe that it will not be accessible at this first moment, but its arrival is an encouragement”.
*Produced by Bruna Sales
Source: CNN Brasil
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