GLP-1 receptor antagonist meds – like Ozempic and its clones – appear to be embedding themselves in the collective weight loss psyche. Now, there’s another new T2D treatment that may be even better…
A new study from Kumamoto University (KU) (Japan), reveals that a new type of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and weight loss mechanism has been discovered. And it’s based not on tricking the brain’s ‘satiety’ receptors into thinking we’re ‘full’, but on activating a critical protein regulating energy balance.
A more-basic level
This new potential drug works at a more-basic level than Ozempic and its clones, and at a lower dose than the current ‘classic’ anti-diabetes drug, metformin. The new compound also appears to have fewer negative side effects.
The potential new med is called HPH-15. And it’s described by it’s discoverers as ‘a novel compound’ that works directly, combining, “dual effects of reducing blood glucose levels and combating fat ac-cumulation, marking a significant leap in diabetes treatment innovation.”
The takeaway
These results suggest that HPH-15 could redefine T2D management by combining glucose control with the prevention of obesity-related complications.
“This compound holds transformative potential for diabetes treatment, offering benefits beyond blood sugar regulation,” said research team leader Professor Mikako Fujita from the Faculty of Life Sciences at KU.
My take
New T2D-plus-weight loss ‘breakthrough’ announcements are coming so fast and furiously these days that the first reports we’re getting are sometimes skeletal. Their discoverers are just SO excited to publish their results that further details are often billed as ‘coming soon’, after the researchers in-volved can perform further analysis their results.
Nevertheless, the latest breakthroughs truly do deserve such enthusiastic trumpeting – if they are, indeed, as monumental as billed.
We all need to remember that it can take as long as a decade for potential new medications to nav-igate the development process and obtain the necessary government health and regulatory certifi-cations. Unlike discoveries the average person can try right now, simply by eating more or less of something already available off-the-shelf.
But if new approaches such as HPH-15 are as good as their potential suggests, perhaps the ‘system’ will bump them to the head of the line… Look how quickly the powers that be got approved COVID-19 vaccines to market!
~ Maggie J.