Type 2 Diabetes – An Anti-Diabetic Medication That Does More Than Lower Blood Sugar

According to the Journal of Diabetes Research, February 2018, use of the anti-diabetic drug exenatide (Byetta, Bydureon) does more than lower blood sugar levels. It can also be used to decrease abdominal fat.

Researchers at Soochow University in Jiangsu, China treated twenty newly-diagnosed Type 2 diabetics with exenatide. The diabetics showed an improvement in…

  • insulin sensitivity,
  • better blood fats, and
  • redistribution of fat away from the central area of the abdomen.

The investigators concluded exenatide could be used to help redistribute excess fat away from the abdominal area.

While it is ideal to avoid becoming obese or overweight, gaining abdominal fat should be avoided as it is especially dangerous. Fat in other parts of the body is under the skin alone, but abdominal fat is distributed deeper, amongst and around the organs. Fat cells in the abdominal area make many hormones and various other molecules that affect inflammation, energy storage, and the metabolism. Basic body shapes are often described popularly as apple and pear…

  • apple-shaped bodies carry most of their weight near the center.
  • pear-shaped bodies tend to have smaller waists and have more weight on their hips.

It is thought apple-shaped bodies are at a higher risk for Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and metabolic syndrome.

The American Heart Association defines abdominal obesity as a waist measurement…

  • over 88 centimeters (35 inches) in women, and
  • over 102 centimeters (40 inches) in men.

The International Diabetes Foundation defines the condition at…

  • over 80 centimeters (35 inches) waist measurement in women, and
  • over 90 centimeters (35.5 inches) in men.

The World Health Organization uses the waist-to-hip ratio. Waist-to-hip measurement is considered abdominal obesity as over 0.85 in women and over 0.9 in men.

Exenatide (Byetta) is a member of the incretin mimetic family and lower blood sugar levels by…

  • causing the pancreas to release more insulin when needed,
  • slowing stomach-emptying, so sugar is released into the blood slowly,
  • preventing the liver from releasing too much sugar, and
  • helping to reduce the appetite.

Other members of the incretin mimetic family include…

  • Victoza,
  • Saxenda,
  • Trulicity,
  • Tanzeum,
  • Adlyxin,
  • Ozempic,

Possible side effects are…

  • diarrhea,
  • nausea,
  • vomiting,
  • headaches,
  • dizziness,
  • increased sweating,
  • indigestion, and
  • constipation.

Overweight and obesity epidemics. The increase in Type 2 diabetes parallels the rising rates of obesity and the growth in the Body Mass Index (BMI) over the last ten years…

  • according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States, over a third of American adults are obese.
  • The World Health Organization (WHO) in 2016 stated more than 1.9 billion adults, 18 years and older were overweight or obese.

Obesity in adults is increasing at an alarming rate in most westernized countries. Worldwide about 11 percent of men and 15 percent of women have been found to be obese.