Saxenda is an injection that you can inject into your leg or abdomen. People with a BMI above 40, or above 35 in combination with complaints such as cardiovascular disease, are eligible.
The drug is intended as a supplement to a healthy lifestyle so that you can lose more weight. In addition to the drug, people must also undergo a lifestyle intervention. In addition, healthcare professionals are working on a healthier lifestyle and weight loss.
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Obesity and overweight
You are officially obese if your BMI is 30 or higher. This applies to 14 percent of the Dutch. Overweight starts with a BMI of 25. This is the case in 50 percent of the Dutch population.
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Laura Sjouw is one of the 650 people who are eligible for Saxenda. She has been using the drug since last summer. “At the time I weighed 112 kilos. Now I am more than 22 kilos lighter. I feel more energetic, fitter and can go out with my children again. At first I was much too tired for that,” Laura tells EditieNL.
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She thinks she wouldn’t have been able to lose so much weight without the obesity drug. “I’ve been trying everything for ten years, but nothing really worked. Now I’ve completely changed my lifestyle and I use the medicine. It works. Although it is hard work, it also gives me peace of mind.”
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Outside the boat
Laura has that peace mainly because she now accepts that it is not her fault that she could not lose weight. “It’s a disease I need help with. And that’s how more people should look at it. It’s already a step in the right direction that the medicine is now included in the basic package.”
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Professor of obesity Liesbeth van Rossum thinks more than 650 people could benefit from the drug. “Actually, it is too defined. Quite a lot of people are now left out. A shame, because the drug can help people who work a healthy lifestyle, but do not lose weight,” she explains to EditieNL.
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New medicines
There are two more overweight medicines on the list that may be included in the basic package. The first is naltrexone, for patients with a BMI of 27 or higher. In addition, there is setmelanotide, for patients with a rare, hereditary form of obesity. That is what the National Health Care Institute (Zorginstituut Nederland) has announced.
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Health gain
But there are drawbacks to Saxenda: “You can’t just stop taking the medicine to maintain your weight. Just like with many other chronic diseases. You can also get stomach and intestinal complaints from it,” says Van Rossum.
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At the same time, the professor sees that the drug is effective. “A weight loss of 5 percent can be seen in 60 percent of the drug users. In about a third, a 10 or more percent weight loss can already be seen. So that is a lot of health gain.”
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