Doctors from around the world recently came together to test a medicine called semaglutide in people with type 2 diabetes.
The large study took place in 14 countries and at 177 medical centers, with Dr. Vanita R. Aroda from a hospital in Boston leading the research.
What Was the Goal?
People with type 2 diabetes often have too much sugar in their blood. One way to measure this is by looking at something called HbA1c, which shows how high a person’s blood sugar has been over the past few months.
The researchers selected people whose HbA1c levels were between 8.0 and 10.5%, meaning their blood sugar was higher than normal. All of these participants were already taking 1 to 3 medications to lower their blood sugar. They also had a body weight that made them a good fit for the study.
The goal was to find out whether daily semaglutide could lower their HbA1c levels even more—and which dose worked best.
How Did the Study Work?
Participants were split into three groups. Each group took a different daily dose of semaglutide:
- 14 mg
- 25 mg
- 50 mg
They took the pills for 68 weeks (a little over a year). The doctors checked their blood sugar, weight, and any side effects during that time.
What Did the Study Show?
All three doses helped lower HbA1c levels. But the 25 mg and 50 mg doses worked better than the 14 mg dose. People who took higher doses had bigger drops in blood sugar.
The higher doses also helped participants lose more weight, which is often helpful for people with type 2 diabetes.
However, people taking the 25 mg and 50 mg doses were more likely to have mild side effects, especially stomach problems like nausea or diarrhea. These side effects were not usually serious, but they happened more often with the stronger doses.
What Does This Mean?
For people with type 2 diabetes who still have high blood sugar even while taking medications, daily semaglutide at 25 mg or 50 mg may be a stronger option to help lower their HbA1c and support weight loss.
But it’s important to be aware that the higher the dose, the more likely someone may have side effects.
This research offers new hope for better blood sugar control using higher doses of semaglutide and may help doctors decide on the best dose for each patient.
The study was published in The Lancet.
If you care about diabetes, please read studies about the cooking connection between potatoes and diabetes, and low calorie diets may help reverse type 2 diabetes.
For more health information, please see recent studies about protein power: a new ally in diabetes management, and pineapple and diabetes: A sweet surprise.
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