The Study
Tolerability of nausea and vomiting and associations with weight loss in a randomized trial of liraglutide in obese, non-diabetic adults
Imagine two groups of people: one gets a weight loss drug, the other gets a fake pill. The drug group lost more weight. That's strong proof the drug works. But within the drug group, some people felt sick and lost a bit more weight. We can't say the sickness caused the extra weight loss because they were not randomly assigned to be sick.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
A medicine called liraglutide helps people lose weight. It can make some people feel sick to their stomach or vomit, but these side effects are usually mild and go away. This study looked at whether feeling sick helped people lose more weight. It found that people who felt sick lost a bit more weight, but even those who didn't feel sick still lost a lot of weight compared to people not taking the medicine.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 587 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1The extra weight loss from nausea is small (about 6 pounds) and may not be worth the discomfort, but the drug itself works well even without nausea.
- 2For a person with obesity, losing 14-20 pounds in a year is significant and can improve health.
- 3People taking the highest dose lost about 17 pounds (7.8 kg) in a year.
- 4Those who felt sick lost about 20 pounds (9.2 kg), while those who didn't feel sick lost about 14 pounds (6.3 kg).
- 5Feeling sick was linked to about 6 extra pounds (2.9 kg) lost.
- 6Most people who felt sick had mild symptoms that happened in the first few weeks.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
International Journal of Obesity (2005)
Year
2013
Authors
M. Lean, R. Carraro, N. Finer, H. Hartvig, M. Lindegaard, S. Rössner, L. Gaal, A. Astrup
Related Content
Claims (8)
Liraglutide causes an 8% loss of body weight in people who do not have diabetes.
In a one-year study of obese non-diabetic adults taking liraglutide 3.0 mg, 48% experienced nausea and 13% experienced vomiting. Most nausea episodes (73%) were mild, and symptoms were temporary, starting during the first 4-6 weeks of dose increases. Only 4% of participants stopped treatment because of these side effects.
Nausea and vomiting caused by liraglutide do not prevent improvements in weight-related quality of life in obese non-diabetic adults after 20 weeks. People who experience these side effects report the same gains in physical function, self-esteem, and work ability as those who do not.
In obese non-diabetic adults taking liraglutide for one year, people who have nausea or vomiting lose about 2.9 kilograms more weight on average than those without these side effects. This means gastrointestinal side effects are linked to greater weight loss.
Taking liraglutide 3.0 mg daily along with a reduced-calorie diet and exercise causes an average weight loss of 7.8 kg (about 17 pounds) after one year in obese adults without diabetes. This weight loss is greater than what is achieved with placebo (dummy treatment) or the weight loss drug orlistat.
Obese adults without diabetes who take 3.0 mg of liraglutide lose an average of 6.3 kg (about 14 pounds) over one year, even if they do not experience nausea or vomiting. This weight loss is greater than what occurs with placebo or the weight loss drug orlistat.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.