Diabetes drug trialled to treat obesity

In the UK, about 1 in 4 adults are affected by obesity, which is linked to diabetes, heart disease and some cancers. But recently a new study has documented the effect of giving a drug called semaglutide to 2000 people over a 1 year period. The drug mimics a gut hormone called GLP-1 to boost insulin levels and it’s already used to treat diabetes. The study subjects lost an average of 15kg on the drug, suggesting that it might be an effective way to support weight loss. Katie Haylor asked Cambridge University geneticist and obesity specialist Giles Yeo (who wasn't involved in the study) to take her through the results of the study, which have just come out in the New England Journal of Medicine...