December 15, 2005
Other, Weight and Weight Loss
Question from Marietta, Georgia, USA:
I recently asked my doctor about losing weight. I play college soccer and want to be ready for the upcoming season. Anyway I have type 1 and have done well with my current therapy of Humalog at meals and Lantus at bedtime. The doctor said that if I wanted to lose weight safely, there is a drug out there called Byetta and that I could replace my Lantus with it and that it would do the trick. I read about the drug on WebMD and it stated that Byetta should not be used by people with type 1 so now I am loss as to what to do. I trust my doctor, but just wanted some reassurance.
Answer:
The FDA has not approved the drug solely for its weight loss properties. When it is used in patients with type 2 diabetes, it appears to lower glucose by improving insulin secretion, as well as causing weight loss. It is very true that you do not want to substitute the Byetta for insulin. With type 1 diabetes, there is very little beta cell tissue to work on and it would not be expected to induce any meaningful insulin secretion.
JTL
