FDA approves a powerful new weight loss medication Saxenda! On December, 23rd, 2014, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a powerful new weight loss drug called Saxenda (liraglutide [rDNA origin] subcutaneous injection) as a treatment option for chronic weight management in addition to a reduced-calorie diet and physical activity, a 2nd such drug to be approved for weight loss in 2014 after approving Orexigen's Contrave(Bupropion and Naltrexone) just a few months ago. Saxenda, with the same active ingredient as the popular diabetes medication, Victoza, is approved for use in adults with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater (obesity) or adults with a BMI of 27 or greater (overweight) who have at least one weight-related condition such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, or high cholesterol (dyslipidemia). What is body mass index? Popularly called BMI, body mass index measures a person's body fat based on an individual’s weight and height, is used
If you are one of the over 70% of adult Americans who are either overweight or obese, and are looking for ways to lose weight fast and safe without bariatric or weight loss surgery, this blog is for you. Before we look in to the various options for losing weight, let us look at the statistics of obesity and overweight status from the Centers for Disease Control that can give us an idea of the problem. Overweight and obesity data from the CDC More than one-third (34.9% or 78.6 million) of U.S. adults are obese. [Read abstract Journal of American Medicine (JAMA) ] Obesity-related conditions include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer, some of the leading causes of preventable death. [ Read guidelines ] The estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the U.S. was $147 billion in 2008 U.S. dollars; the medical costs for people who are obese were $1,429 higher than those of normal weight. [ Read summary ] Non-Hispanic blacks have the highest age