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A once-a-day injection which stimulates the release of insulin has been launched to treat type 2 diabetes and obese people.
The drug Victoza, also called liraglutide, releases insulin when blood sugar levels become too high and trials found that it helped people lose weight by increasing the “full” feeling. It also lowered blood pressure.
Of the two million people with type 2 diabetes in the UK many are overweight or obese and a further 500,000 people have type 2 but do not know it.
This new drug, which has been launched in the UK, offers new hope for people trying to control their weight by reducing the rate at which the stomach empties.
Victoza is taken as directed by a doctor and is used in combination with other drugs.
Cathy Moulton, care advisor at Diabetes UK, said: “Liraglutide widens the choice of treatments for people with type 2 diabetes that not only offer improved blood glucose control but also aid weight loss.”
Anthony Barnett, clinical director of diabetes and endocrinology at the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust in Birmingham, added that patients with type 2 diabetes can control their blood sugar at the same time as benefiting from weight loss.
Copyright Press Association 2009
