Jab that could help you drop two dress sizes in six months

By Fiona Macrae
Last updated at 9:45 AM on 27th December 2010

A diet drug that helps women drop two dress sizes in six months could be available in just three years.

The jab has produced ‘phenomenal’ results helping men and women who have struggled with their weight for years shed a stone and a half.

This makes the drug, called liraglutide, more than twice as good as anything on the market.

Dropping clothes sizes: The jab has produced 'phenomenal' results in testing and could be available in two years

It also lowers blood pressure, raises ‘good’ cholesterol and can prevent and even cure diabetes.

And it could even make dieting a pleasure, with slimmers who take it saying it produces a ‘feel-good’ factor.

Liraglutide is already used to treat diabetes. Its manufacturer, Danish firm Novo Nordisk, is carrying out large-scale, definitive trials on 5,000 obese men and women.

These are expected to finish in 2013, the company says.

If they prove as successful as those already carried out, the drug could be routinely given to the overweight and obese in three years. With Britain battling the worst weight problem in Europe and just one obesity drug on the market, there is an urgent need for new weapons in the battle against the bulge.

Researchers have already tested liraglutide on more than 550 obese men and women.

Some were given daily doses. Others were given dummy pills or orlistat, the ‘gold standard’ obesity treatment regularly prescribed by GPs.

Those who took liraglutide lost an average of a stone and a half over six months – more than twice as much as those on orlistat.

In addition, 28 per cent of those on the highest dose of liraglutide shed at least 10 per cent of their body weight – almost three times the figure for orlistat.

The women dropped an average of three inches from their waistline, while male pot bellies also shrank.

When they continued to take the drug for a further 18 months, the weight stayed off. But those on orlistat began to pile the pounds back on. The results were released at an obesity conference.

Liraglutide, which, like insulin, can be injected from a pen, is based on a gut hormone which tells the brain that it is time to stop eating but is broken down within minutes of being produced. In contrast, the drug stays in the body for hours.

Viggo Birch, managing director of Novo Nordisk, said: ‘We have had phenomenal results from the first clinical trials in obesity.’

Great result: Women who took part in the test lost an average of three inches from their waistlines

He added that the effects on confidence and health were ‘life-changing’.

Nick Finer, a University College London expert in hormones and weight loss, said the jab could cut the need for gastric bands, stomach stapling and other expensive and potentially dangerous operations.

He added: ‘The growing numbers of people with obesity is affecting health and placing a huge burden on the NHS. While diet and lifestyle interventions can be helpful, they are of limited efficacy for the seriously obese.’

n More than 60 per cent of women in relationships do not feel comfortable eating in front of their partner, research suggests.

And almost half get shy when undressing. The survey for dieting product manufacturer Shapesmart also found that two-fifths of 5,000 women surveyed feel like they are always dieting or are constantly concerned about their weight.