Please directly call our main office to complete your appointment
Virtual Consultations
Book Appointment
850-407-2803
Menu
Semaglutide is an injectable medication that helps overweight adults with prediabetes lose significant weight through appetite reduction and slowed digestion. Talk to your doctor to see if adding semaglutide could be a breakthrough in your prediabetes treatment plan.
Obesity has reached epidemic proportions globally, with 2.5 billion of the world’s population being overweight -- of these 890 million are living with obesity. This epidemic is driven by easy access to calorie-dense processed foods and increasingly sedentary lifestyles.
Obesity significantly increases the risk of developing chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and osteoarthritis. It also negatively impacts quality of life and reduces life expectancy. Therefore, treating obesity is critical for improving public health outcomes.
Semaglutide is a new glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist medication approved for chronic weight management in obese or overweight adults. It is taken as a once-weekly subcutaneous injection.
Semaglutide helps with weight loss by suppressing appetite, reducing hunger, and promoting feelings of fullness and satiety. It also slows gastric emptying to reduce food intake.
Multiple large clinical trials have demonstrated the safety and efficacy of semaglutide for weight loss in people with obesity.
The SUSTAIN trial series showed that people taking semaglutide had 5-15% greater weight loss compared to those on placebo over 40-72 weeks of treatment. They also achieved better glycemic control and reductions in cardiovascular risk factors like blood pressure and lipid levels.
The pivotal STEP phase 3 trials compared semaglutide head-to-head against other obesity medications. STEP 3 showed that over 68 weeks, people on semaglutide lost 16.0% of their body weight versus 5.7% for those on placebo.
Overall, the clinical trial evidence confirms semaglutide as being highly effective for weight loss and metabolic improvements in people with obesity.
Semaglutide has demonstrated an excellent safety profile in clinical trials and real-world use. The most common side effects are mild gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. However, these tend to dissipate within 4-8 weeks of starting treatment.
Compared to other GLP-1 receptor agonists, semaglutide has a lower risk of side effects. There is no increased risk of hypoglycemia, pancreatitis, thyroid C-cell tumors, or cardiovascular events. It is also safe for people with chronic kidney disease.
Rarely, semaglutide can cause serious side effects like gallbladder disease, acute kidney injury, or diabetic retinopathy complications. However, with proper clinical monitoring, these risks remain very low. Overall, semaglutide has not shown any unexpected safety issues.
Semaglutide is an injectable weight-loss medication that may help people with obesity or overweight lose significant weight and keep it off long-term. However, it is not suitable for everyone.
Semaglutide may be an appropriate weight loss treatment if you:
Semaglutide can be especially helpful for people with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes due to its glucose-lowering effects. The additional weight loss further reduces diabetes risk and complications.
The key to successful and safe semaglutide treatment is close medical monitoring under a qualified healthcare provider.
Your doctor will review your full medical history and determine if semaglutide is appropriate for your situation. They will also monitor you for potential side effects and ensure the medication is working effectively.
Be prepared to discuss:
Prediabetes is a serious health condition where blood sugar levels are above normal but not high enough for a type 2 diabetes diagnosis. People with prediabetes are at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes within five years if left untreated.
The good news is that early intervention can prevent or significantly delay diabetes onset. One of the most effective interventions is weight loss through calorie restriction and increased physical activity. And this is where semaglutide can help.
Semaglutide is an injectable drug that mimics the effects of GLP-1 - an appetite-reducing hormone produced in the gut. It works via three mechanisms:
Together, these effects cause significant weight loss and improve glucose regulation - precisely what is needed to treat prediabetes.
While semaglutide is approved as a weight loss medication, clinical trials specifically in people with prediabetes show great promise as well.
For example, the STEP 1, STEP 3, and STEP 4 randomized controlled trials followed over 4,000 adults with prediabetes who received semaglutide 2.4mg once-weekly versus placebo for 68 weeks. The results showed:
These large clinical trials demonstrated that semaglutide not only reduced body weight but also had beneficial effects on restoring normal blood sugar control and reducing diabetes progression risk in people with prediabetes.
In 2022, the American Diabetes Association (ADA) included semaglutide as a recommended pharmacologic intervention for obesity management in people with prediabetes and diabetes. Their key recommendations are:
Following ADA guidelines allows safe and effective prescribing of semaglutide for prediabetes and maximizes the likelihood of preventing diabetes progression.
Semaglutide is an incretin-based injection that promotes weight loss and more normalized blood glucose levels - exactly what is needed in prediabetes treatment. It is backed by strong clinical evidence and recommended by diabetes experts like the ADA.
Talk to the expert doctors at Dr V Medical Aesthetics to determine if adding semaglutide, along with lifestyle interventions, makes sense for your prediabetes management.
Dr. V Medical Aesthetics is ready to help you achieve your beauty goals. Contact us today to learn more about any of our services, and exactly what our team can do for you.
