We all know how it is: some people feel full after just a small snack, while others need a whole meal before they even think about stop\u00adping. It comes as no surprise that such diffe\u00adrences are also noti\u00adceable in obesity therapy \u2013 losing weight is complex, and finding the right medi\u00adca\u00adtion is often a gamble. Looking at simple indi\u00adca\u00adtors such as body mass index is often of little help here. Two people with the same BMI of 35 kg\/m\u00b2 can react comple\u00adtely differ\u00adently to the same medi\u00adca\u00adtion. The good news is that a genetic test might help here.<\/p>\n
Full? It depends on the person<\/b><\/p>\n
Rese\u00adar\u00adchers at the Mayo Clinic had nearly 800 people with obesity consume lasagne, pudding and milk until they were full. The result: the range was from 140 to over 2,000 calories.<\/p>\n
Classic para\u00adme\u00adters such as body weight, hormones or age hardly explained these diffe\u00adrences. The trail led to gene\u00adtics. The rese\u00adar\u00adchers combined vari\u00adants from ten genes asso\u00adciated with eating beha\u00adviour and used them to develop the Calo\u00adries to Satia\u00adtion Genetic Risk Score (CTS-GRS). The prin\u00adciple: a blood or saliva sample is suffi\u00adcient to deter\u00admine an indi\u00advi\u00addual\u2019s satiety threshold.<\/p>\n
From \u2018hungry brain\u2019 to \u2018hungry gut\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n
And what does this mean in practice?<\/p>\n
\u00b7 Pati\u00adents with a high satiety thres\u00adhold (\u2018hungry brain\u2019)<\/b> \u2013 i.e. those who need large portions to feel full \u2013 benefit more from phen\u00adter\u00admine topi\u00adra\u00admate<\/b>. The drug works precisely by effec\u00adtively limi\u00adting portion size.<\/p>\n
\u00b7 Pati\u00adents with a low satiety thres\u00adhold (\u2018hungry gut\u2019) \u2013 who tend to snack frequently \u2013 responded better to liraglutide (Saxenda\u00ae<\/sup>) in the studies. Liraglutide is a GLP\u20111 analogue that not only curbs appe\u00adtite, but also reduces meal frequency \u2013 thus addres\u00adsing the typical pattern of \u2018hungry gut\u2019.<\/b><\/p>\n This makes it clear that there is no such thing as \u2018one effec\u00adtive weight loss injec\u00adtion for all\u2019. Knowing in advance which subs\u00adtance works best saves pati\u00adents the frus\u00adt\u00adra\u00adting expe\u00adri\u00adence of months of therapy without results \u2013 and allows for more targeted advice.<\/p>\n Precision instead of trial and error<\/b><\/p>\n