An NHS watchdog has recommended Wegovy for people in England and Wales who have a BMI of 35 \u2014 making them morbidly obese.<\/p>\n
Patients must also have at least one weight-related comorbidity, such as type 2 diabetes, to be eligible, NICE revealed today.<\/p>\n
Adults with a BMI between 30 and 35 could also be recommended the drug, which costs in the region of \u00a375 each month per patient, if they have been referred for specialist help.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Patients from South Asian, Chinese and Black African or Caribbean family backgrounds are eligible for the drug at a lower BMI threshold \u2014 reduced by roughly 2.5kg\/m2.<\/p>\n
HOW TO WORK OUT YOUR BMI\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \n Metric Formula:<\/span><\/p>\n BMI = (weight in kilograms \/ (height in meters x height in meters))<\/p>\n Measurements:<\/span><\/p>\n Under 18.5:<\/span> Underweight<\/p>\n 18.5 – 24.9:<\/span> Healthy<\/p>\n 25 – 29.9:<\/span> Overweight<\/p>\n 30 – 34.9:<\/span>\u00a0Obese<\/p>\n 35 or greater:<\/span>\u00a0Morbidly obese\u00a0<\/p>\n For example, if a 5ft 8in (173cm) adult weighs 11st 10lbs (74.4kg), they have a BMI of 24.8 \u2014 a healthy weight.\u00a0<\/p>\n They would be classed as obese if they were 14st 2lbs (89.8kg), or morbidly obese if they tipped the scales at 16st 8lbs (105.2kg).\u00a0<\/p>\n BMI is not used to diagnose obesity because people who are very muscular can have a high BMI without much fat.\u00a0<\/p>\n Over a million morbidly obese adults will soon be eligible for weight-loss injections on the NHS, health officials announced today.\u00a0<\/p>\n The revolutionary once-a-week Wegovy jab \u2014 which experts believe could play a major role in combating the country’s obesity crisis \u2014 was given the green light by the drug watchdog NICE.\u00a0<\/p>\n Scientific studies have shown the fat-busting medicine works as well as gastric band surgery.\u00a0<\/p>\n One trial showed patients given the treatment\u00a0lost an average of nearly two-and-a-half stone (35lbs) in little over a year, while those given a placebo lost 6lbs.<\/p>\n University of Liverpool researchers who led the study described the drug as a ‘game changer’.<\/p>\n Wegovy works by hijacking the body’s own appetite regulating system in the brain, leading to reduced hunger cravings and calorie intake.\u00a0<\/p>\n NICE has recommended the drug for people in England and Wales who have a BMI of 35 \u2014 making them morbidly obese, the fattest possible category\u00a0\u2014 and have at least one weight-related comorbidity.\u00a0<\/p>\n Those with a BMI between 30 and 35 could be recommended the drug, which costs \u00a375 a month at a lower dose for diabetics, if they have been referred for specialist help.<\/p>\n Wegovy, a branded version of semaglutide made by pharmaceutical giant NovoNordisk, will be prescribed alongside a reduced-calorie diet and physical exercise programme.\u00a0<\/p>\n The drug, which patients will be able to inject themselves, is already approved in the UK for type 2 diabetics.<\/p>\n Patients are told not to suddenly stop taking the drug without consulting their doctor. But some who have paid for it privately have stopped using it after seeing results within a matter of months.\u00a0<\/p>\n The exact price NHS England is paying for the drug is confidential, but it will be given as a 2.4mg dose for obese people \u2014 double that given to diabetics.\u00a0<\/p>\n A consultation on the recommendations made by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is now open until March 1.<\/p>\n Medics will be asked to comment on the cost effectiveness of the medication, and the evidence of its fat-fighting effects.\u00a0<\/p>\n NHS England can’t make plans to rollout the drug until NICE’s final guidance is released.\u00a0<\/p>\n Around 12.4million adults in the UK are obese, making the country one of heaviest the world. Around 1.3million are thought to be morbidly obese.<\/p>\n The obesity epidemic costs the NHS \u00a36.1billion and wider society \u00a327billion every year, according to Government estimates.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Wegovy, made by the Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk (above) contains semaglutide, a synthesised version of a gut hormone that curbs appetite <\/p>\n A trial of 1,961 participants across 16 countries, who weighed 16 stone 7lbs (105kg) and had a BMI of 38 on average, found participants lost 2 stone 6lbs (15.3kg) over 68 weeks, while the placebo group lost just 6lbs (2.6kg)<\/p>\n Wegovy is the brand name for a drug called semaglutide.\u00a0<\/p>\n A 1mg dose of\u00a0semaglutide is already approved in the UK as a treatment for people with type 2 diabetes.<\/p>\n But studies have found a 2.4mg of the drug works effectively as a weight loss drug.<\/p>\n It works by triggering the body to produce a hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1 that is released naturally from the intestines after meals.<\/p>\n The hormone helps control blood sugar and makes people feel full so they know when to stop eating.<\/p>\n Results from a study of 2,000 people over 15 months show participants lost 15 per cent of their body weight on average, equating to 15.3kg.<\/p>\n The group received individual counselling sessions from registered dietitians to help them stick to a reduced-calorie diet and exercise plan, alongside the weekly injections.\u00a0<\/p>\n Volunteers reported improvement in their quality of life and a reduction in risk factors for developing heart disease and diabetes, such as reduced waist circumference, blood fats, blood sugar and blood pressure.\u00a0<\/p>\n But the drug triggered side effects include mild or moderate nausea and diarrhoea, but researchers said these were short-lasting and resolved themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Orlistat and liragultide are the only two anti-obesity drugs available on the NHS, while bariatric surgery is available to severely obese people who have a serious condition that could be improved with weight loss.<\/p>\n Doctors are already familiar with prescribing\u00a0semaglutide in a lower dose, with type 2 diabetes sufferers injecting themselves with 1mg of the drug per week.\u00a0<\/p>\n As an obesity treatment, the drug is self-injected once a week through a pen containing 2.4mg.<\/p>\n It triggers the body to produce a hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1 that is released naturally from the intestines after meals.<\/p>\n The hormone helps control blood sugar and makes people feel full so they know when to stop eating.\u00a0<\/p>\n Trials of the drug, which has already received the greenlight in the US, found it was nearly twice as effective as other weight-loss drugs.\u00a0<\/p>\n A trial of 1,961 participants across 16 countries, who weighed 16 stone 7lbs (105kg) and had a BMI of 38 on average, found participants lost 2 stone 6lbs (15.3kg) over 68 weeks. This equated to around 15 per cent of their body fat, on average.<\/p>\n US experts said the results are close to the effect of a gastric band, which cuts patients’ body weight by around 25 per cent.\u00a0<\/p>\n The group also received individual counselling sessions from registered dietitians to help them stick to a reduced-calorie diet and exercise plan, alongside the weekly injections.\u00a0<\/p>\n Volunteers in the study, which was funded by Wegovy, reported improvement in their quality of life and a reduction in risk factors for developing heart disease and diabetes, such as reduced waist circumference, blood fats, blood sugar and blood pressure.\u00a0<\/p>\n The drug triggered side effects include mild or moderate nausea and diarrhoea, but researchers said these were short-lasting and resolved themselves.<\/p>\n Professor Rachel Batterham,\u00a0an obesity expert at University College London who co-authored the study, last year said the findings are a ‘major breakthrough for improving the health of people with obesity’.\u00a0<\/p>\n She said: ‘No other drug has come close to producing this level of weight loss \u2013 this really is a gamechanger.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘For the first time, people can achieve through drugs what was only possible through weight-loss surgery.’\u00a0<\/p>\n Helen Knight, programme director in the centre for health technology evaluation at NICE, said: ‘We know that management of overweight and obesity is one of the biggest challenges our health service is facing with nearly two thirds of adults either overweight or obese.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘It is a lifelong condition that needs medical intervention, has psychological and physical effects, and can affect quality of life.<\/p>\n ‘But in recent years NICE has been able to recommend a new line of pharmaceutical treatments which have shown that those people using them, alongside changes to their diet and exercise, have been able to reduce their weight.’<\/p>\n The was approved as a weight-loss treatment by the US Food and Drug Administration in June.<\/p>\n Americans with a BMI higher than 27 with at least one weight-related condition are eligible for the drug, as well as all patients with a BMI above 30.<\/p>\n A 31-year-old mother lost 2st (28lbs\/12.7kg) and was able to resist party food after getting weekly Wegovy injections.<\/p>\n Danielle Breckenridge, an office administrator, weighed 13st (182lbs\/82kg) after giving birth to her daughter \u2014 and had a BMI of 35 classing her as ‘obese’<\/p>\n The mother said she gained 4st (56lbs\/25kg) during pregnancy after developing gestational diabetes.<\/p>\n This is when blood sugar levels are high because the body is struggling to make enough of a hormone to bring them back down.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ms Breckenridge from Stevenage, Herts, had assumed she would lose the added weight after giving birth.<\/p>\n But she struggled to lose it and a year later tests revealed she was borderline diabetic, which came as a ‘huge shock’.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The doctor recommended she went to Slimming World, but Ms Breckenridge said she ‘needed something a bit more effective’.<\/p>\n Ciara Lawless, 40, lost 2st\u00a0(28lbs\/12.7kg) after getting the weight loss injections set to be available on the NHS<\/p>\n After researching options online she signed up for a four-week course of Saxenda \u2014 a weight loss injection similar to Wevogy but that must be taken daily.<\/p>\n After this course she switched to a month of Wevogy \u2014 which was today recommended on the NHS for obese people.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ms Breckenbridge told The Telegraph<\/a>: ‘I had a bit of nausea (after the jabs) but I just wasn\u2019t hungry any more and wasn\u2019t even tempted by party food, my usual weak spot.’<\/p>\n She said she switched to Wevogy because it did not require the daily injection, which could prove difficult to remember.\u00a0<\/p>\n Danielle Breckenridge, 31, (pictured before, left, and after, right, the weight loss) says she also lost 2st after getting the injections<\/p>\n Ciara Lawless, 40, also lost 2st\u00a0(28lbs\/12.7kg) after getting the weight loss injection.\u00a0<\/p>\n The sales assistant from Dublin said she signed up for the jab after seeing it on Instagram.\u00a0<\/p>\n At the time she was 12.5st (175lbs\/79kg).<\/p>\n After getting the injections in May 2020, she said: ‘I was over 12 and a half stone and all the diets I went on never seemed to work.<\/p>\n ‘I feel so much better about myself now and my confidence is so much higher.<\/p>\n ‘I did maintain my weight with clean eating and having a weekly treat but it’s nice I can come back for help when I need it.’\u00a0<\/p>\n \n MY OBESITY LEFT ME SUICIDAL<\/p>\n Alex Guevara, 46, is a paramedic practitioner from Milton Keynes. He has two children from his first marriage, and a third with wife Christina, 29, who\u2019s also a paramedic.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve always struggled with my weight as I have such a sweet tooth. But in 2017 I started to balloon after a severe lung infection left me housebound for months. I was so miserable all I could do was eat.<\/p>\n By April last year I was touching 20 st (I\u2019m 5ft 11in). My joints were sore and I developed sleep apnoea, in which you stop breathing momentarily when you sleep.<\/p>\n I had no willpower. I\u2019d have three bowls of cereal at breakfast as well as toast. Meanwhile, I was on a barrage of medication for depression and asthma. I even felt suicidal.<\/p>\n Alex Guevara, 46, (pictured) is a paramedic practitioner from Milton Keynes. He has three children, and lives with his wife Christina, 29. He said: ‘When a friend told me about semaglutide I felt I had nothing to lose. I went to a private clinic, and paid \u00a3250 a month for six months’<\/p>\n When a friend told me about semaglutide I felt I had nothing to lose. I went to a private clinic, and paid \u00a3250 a month for six months.<\/p>\n Within a few days of starting the drug I just stopped feeling so hungry. There were a few side-effects, such as nausea, constipation and diarrhoea. But my sleep apnoea disappeared and I felt so much happier.<\/p>\n By December last year I started tapering off the medication and reconfiguring my lifestyle with exercise and a healthy diet. I\u2019m now back to 15 st and hoping to lose more.<\/p>\n Some people may see semaglutide as lazy or a quick fix. But I needed something dramatic to break the cycle and stop me hurtling towards type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and stroke. Semaglutide should be available to anyone who needs it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Will YOU be eligible for the once-a-week jab?\u00a0 WHO IS ELIGIBLE? An NHS watchdog has recommended Wegovy for people in England and Wales who have a BMI of 35 \u2014 making them morbidly obese. Patients must also have at least one weight-related comorbidity, such as type 2 diabetes, to be eligible, NICE revealed today. Adults Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-286403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286403\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Wegovy,](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2021\/06\/04\/20\/wire-43843839-1622835741-267_634x422.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2022\/02\/08\/08\/53911709-0-image-a-1_1644308657333.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n
WHAT IS WEGOVY?\u00a0<\/h3>\n
Women lose 2st after getting weekly Wegovy injections<\/h3>\n
![\"Ciara](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2022\/02\/08\/15\/53926755-10488557-Danielle_Breckenridge_31_pictured_before_getting_the_weight_loss-a-23_1644335189681.jpg\")
![\"...](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2022\/02\/08\/15\/53926739-10488557-image-a-24_1644335189695.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Danielle](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2022\/02\/08\/16\/53929425-10488557-image-m-15_1644338105905.jpg\")
![\"Danielle](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2022\/02\/08\/17\/53927019-10488557-Danielle_Breckenridge_31_says_she_also_lost_2st_after_getting_th-a-2_1644340768990.jpg\")
<\/p>\nMy obesity left me suicidal: Medic who ballooned to 20st and had ‘nothing to lose’ reveals fat-busting jab helped him shed 5st\u00a0<\/h3>\n
![\"Alex](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2021\/02\/11\/22\/39187532-9251733-image-a-60_1613082709048.jpg\")
![\"When](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2022\/02\/08\/17\/39187534-10488557-When_a_friend_told_me_about_semaglutide_I_felt_I_had_nothing_to_-a-3_1644340769030.jpg\")
<\/p>\n