Adults with overweight or obesity and type 2 diabetes who are given the sodium glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT-2) inhibitor drug dapagliflozin alongside moderate calorie restriction achieve much higher rates of remission compared with calorie restriction alone, finds a trial published by The BMJ today. The researchers say this study provides a practical strategy to achieve remission for patients with early type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes affects over 400 million adults worldwide.
It's not necessarily a permanent condition and can be reversed by intensive weight management, but the most effective methods of weight loss, such as a very low energy diet or bariatric surgery, are not easy to implement. As well as helping to lower blood sugar levels, SGLT-2 inhibitors can also lead to weight loss, but their effect alongside calorie restriction on diabetes remission has not yet been investigated in a randomised controlled trial. To address this, researchers carried out a trial involving 328 patients with type 2 diabetes of less than six years' duration at 16 centres in mainland China from 12 June 2020 to 31 January 2023.
Participants were aged 20-70 years with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 25 and were not taking any anti-diabetic medication other than metformin. After excluding patients with a range of pre-existing conditions, a history of gastric surgery, and those taking weight loss drugs, participants were randomly assigned to either moderate calorie restriction (a reductio.
