PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) -
Margaret Walker loves the great outdoors.
"I'm going to Montana next month. I love to fish in Montana and Idaho," the Tigard woman said.
Managing her type-two diabetes was getting in the way of Walker's active lifestyle, but that was before she started taking Victoza, a shot designed to help diabetics manage their blood sugar.
And the Victoza bonus, she started shedding the pounds.
"Overall, I lost about 40 pounds," Walker said.
Dr. Elizabeth Stephens is a Providence endocrinologist. She said Victoza is one of several in a class of drugs on the market that work hormonally, tricking the body into thinking it's full.
"These drugs are appealing because they help with weight loss too," Stephens said. "They have a number of different mechanisms, but one of the big ones is they really seem to affect appetite. People commonly tell me they just don't feel as hungry, they stop eating earlier, because they just feel full."
Stephens said she's seen varying weight loss in patients using the once-daily, non-insulin shot - from moderate to dramatic.
Walker said her friends have certainly noticed.
"[They] keep telling me you look really good, you're slimming down,you look in perfect shape," Walker recalled.
And while people are posting their Victoza success stories on message boards and YouTube, doctors said once a patient stops taking the drug, the weight comes back.
So can the drug be used by anyone looking to drop some weight? Stephens said not so fast.
"There's probably interest in going after that indication as a weight-loss drug, but it's not approved for that use yet," she said.
The shot is also expensive, costing $200 to $300 a month.
But it's worth it for many patients like Walker, who said the shot has made it easier to live with diabetes.
Copyright 2012 KPTV (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.
