Semaglutide works by mimicking a hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) that targets areas of the brain that regulate appetite and food intake. The medication dose must be increased gradually over 16 to 20 weeks to 2.4 mg once weekly to reduce gastrointestinal side effects.

Multiple weight loss interventions have been developed during the past decades. They include lifestyle and behavioral interventions (e.g., diet and exercise), anti-obesity medications (AOMs), endoscopic interventions, and surgical procedures. Anti-obesity medications are an effective treatment for weight loss, aiming to improve quality of life and control weight-related comorbidities. However, different AOMs have shown a wide range of variability in percentage weight loss, ranging between 5% and 12% in randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and regular clinical settings. Currently, only 5 medications—orlistat, phentermine plus topiramate, naltrexone plus bupropion, liraglutide, and semaglutide—have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for long-term use in individuals with a body mass index (BMI; calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) of 30 or more with no weight-related comorbidities or 27 or more with weight-related comorbidities.

Semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist, is approved to treat type 2 diabetes, with subcutaneous injection doses of 0.25, 0.5, and 1 mg administered once weekly and oral doses of 3, 7, and 14 mg administered once daily. In June 2021, the FDA approved subcutaneous semaglutide for long-term weight management, with higher doses of 1.7 and 2.4 mg once weekly. The Semaglutide Treatment Effect in People with Obesity (STEP) trials have shown the efficacy of semaglutide for the treatment of obesity. In large RCTs, patients receiving semaglutide, 2.4 mg, lost a mean of 6% of their weight by week 12 and 12% of their weight by week 28. To our knowledge, no retrospective studies have been conducted to assess the effectiveness of semaglutide at the doses used to treat obesity (i.e., 1.7 and 2.4 mg).

Phentermine is a widely used pharmaceutical agent for appetite suppression. Phentermine has been sold under a lot of brand names over the years, the most popular including Adipex-P (or simply “Adipex”), Fastin, Suprenza, and Wilpo. It briefly got a bad rap with dieters for being one of the “fens” in “phen-fen”, the weight-loss medication combination that was found to cause damage to heart valves; fortunately, Phentermine was not responsible for the adverse events, “fenfluramine” was found to be responsible and was withdrawn from the market in 1997. Phentermine, on the other hand, has been around since the late ’50s, and over those decades has been found to be safe and effective as part of a physician-guided weight loss program.

Phentermine is available by prescription. It is one of the very few pharmaceutical agents that are prescribed at Clinical Care 365 but is used medically as an appetite suppressant for a short period of time to initiate and promote weight loss in conjunction with exercise and nutritional optimization. This is done with close monitoring of blood pressure and body fat percentage. Optimizing hormones while this is being used to “kick start” the weight loss process is frequently recommended, as it greatly enhances results for many patients.

Peptide therapy is one of the most effective and new treatments towards weight loss and controlling your hunger.

Many of the peptides we offer help control ghrelin which is the hormone that makes us hungry. Our peptides help control this hormone and provide a feeling of satiety. They also offer increased fat burning effects as well as decreased appetite and increased energy.