How weight loss jabs have changed the battle with obesity

GLP-1 weight loss jabs have become one of the biggest medical stories of the decade. About 100 million people are on them worldwide, according to the World Health Organization, and with the University College London estimating that number to be 1.6 million in the UK alone. And that number is growing every month. Scientists and clinicians say it has been a game changer in tackling what is becoming a global crisis in obesity. More than 50 clinical trials are currently underway for new drugs. So how will the picture change in the coming years? In February 2021 a global team of researchers published a paper which would help transform the way people lose weight. Jointly led by Prof John Wilding from the University of Liverpool and Prof Bob Kushner from the US, they had just conducted a two year study looking at the effect of semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy, on weight loss. It concluded that people on the drug lost up to 15% of their body weight over the 68 weeks of the trial. "The people who were taking the placebo injections, who were getting exactly the same support from the dieticians and everything only lost about 2.5% of their body weight," said Wilding. "We'd never se