Liraglutide can help treat diabetes, but it might also have serious side effects — so doctors need to think carefully about each person’s health before prescribing it.

The FDA looked at both the good things and the possible risks of a new diabetes drug called liraglutide to decide if it's safe and helpful for patients.

In adults with type 2 diabetes, treatment with liraglutide or semaglutide is linked to a moderate decrease in the occurrence of serious heart problems and a small increase in survival time over 1.5 to 4.5 years compared to no such treatment.

In people with obesity and prediabetes, the drug liraglutide lowers blood glucose levels after eating and in the fasted state within two weeks, even without weight loss, and these effects are not seen with other approaches like sitagliptin or dieting alone.

In people with obesity and prediabetes, the drug liraglutide lowers blood glucose levels after fasting and after meals within two weeks, even without weight loss. This effect is not seen with other approaches that increase GLP-1 naturally or reduce calories, suggesting liraglutide works through a distinct mechanism.

In adults with obesity and prediabetes, taking 1.8 mg of liraglutide daily increases feelings of fullness and reduces self-reported desire to eat later, but does not lower the actual amount of calories consumed compared to dieting alone.