{"id":7841,"date":"2022-05-19T06:52:19","date_gmt":"2022-05-18T22:52:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/?p=7841"},"modified":"2022-05-19T06:52:20","modified_gmt":"2022-05-18T22:52:20","slug":"combination-of-drugs-for-obesity-and-type-2-diabetes-may-be-more-effective-than-a-single-therapy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/combination-of-drugs-for-obesity-and-type-2-diabetes-may-be-more-effective-than-a-single-therapy\/","title":{"rendered":"Combination of drugs for obesity and Type 2 diabetes may be more effective than a single therapy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Canadian and German researchers are teaming up to identify new drug combinations to treat people with obesity and Type 2 diabetes.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The goal is to develop personalized prescriptions that are more effective than single drugs and that can potentially replace more invasive treatments such as bariatric surgery, especially for children.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAs a pediatric endocrinologist, I can tell you we\u2019re seeing more and more Type 2 diabetes in kids and adolescents, and it seems to be a more aggressive form than adult onset diabetes, so we do need better therapies to achieve even greater efficacy and degree of weight loss,\u201d said\u00a0Andrea Haqq, a\u00a0professor in the University of Alberta&#8217;s\u00a0Faculty of Medicine &amp; Dentistry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The researchers&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fendo.2022.838410\/full\">recently published a paper<\/a>&nbsp;that examines the potential of several drugs that control incretins. These metabolic hormones stimulate the body to produce insulin and use it effectively. They also suppress appetite in order to control blood sugars and reduce weight.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The researchers conclude that combining the drugs has several advantages, including higher effectiveness in at least some patients and fewer side-effects.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even a five per cent weight loss is considered clinically meaningful, and patients in some of the combination drug trials are achieving 10 or 15 per cent, said Haqq, who is a member of the\u00a0Alberta Diabetes Institute\u00a0and the\u00a0Women and Children\u2019s Health Research Institute.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Haqq\u2019s\u00a0laboratory\u00a0is collaborating with that of\u00a0Timo M\u00fcller, director\u00a0of the\u00a0Institute for Diabetes and Obesity\u00a0at the\u00a0Helmholtz Diabetes Center\u00a0and a researcher with the\u00a0German Center for Diabetes Research\u00a0in M\u00fcnich, Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As part of the collaboration with the M\u00fcller team, first author\u00a0Qiming Tan, a PhD candidate in the U of A Faculty of Medicine &amp; Dentistry, will study for a term in Germany and a German student will join Haqq\u2019s lab here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Haqq and Tan recommend further research to identify why some individuals respond differently to the drugs. Some racial and ethnic groups bear a disproportionate burden of obesity and Type 2 diabetes, they said, so more participants from these groups are needed in trials. Further studies should also focus on how differences in biological sex affect drug efficacy and safety.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In addition to drug combinations, the researchers are looking for non-pharmacological solutions, such as how adding fibre to a person\u2019s diet can slow weight gain and improve the effectiveness of existing diabetes medications.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The researchers conclude that combining the drugs has several advantages, including higher effectiveness in at least some patients and fewer side-effects. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7842,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[19,1538,1016,1015],"class_list":["post-7841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsmakers","tag-health","tag-medical-care","tag-medication","tag-medicine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7841"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7841\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7843,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7841\/revisions\/7843"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}