- With Mayo Clinic endocrinologist
Maria Collazo-Clavell, M.D.
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Maria Collazo-Clavell, M.D.
Maria Collazo-Clavell, M.D.
Dr. Maria Collazo-Clavell is board certified in internal medicine, endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism. She's a consultant in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, Metabolism & Nutrition at Mayo Clinic and an associate professor at College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic.
The Aibonito, Puerto Rico, native has been with Mayo Clinic since 1994.
She's a member of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, the American College of Endocrinology, the American Diabetes Association and The Endocrine Society.
Dr. Collazo-Clavell is medical editor of diabetes content on Mayo's health information website and for "Mayo Clinic The Essential Diabetes Book." Her clinical interests include management of type 1 and type 2 diabetes, obesity and nutritional disorders.
Risk factors (1)
- Diabetes: Does alcohol and tobacco use increase my risk?
Symptoms (1)
- The dawn phenomenon: What can you do?
Complications (1)
- Diabetes: How do I help protect my liver?
Treatments and drugs (4)
- Avandia safety concerns: What should I do?
- Diabetes management: Does aspirin therapy prevent heart problems?
- Blood glucose monitors: What factors affect accuracy?
- see all in Treatments and drugs
Lifestyle and home remedies (10)
- Caffeine: Does it affect blood sugar?
- Glucosamine: Does it affect blood sugar?
- Diabetes: Are electric blankets off-limits?
- see all in Lifestyle and home remedies
Alternative medicine (1)
- Diabetes treatment: Can cinnamon lower blood sugar?
Prevention (2)
- Fasting diet: Can it improve my heart health?
- Sodium nitrate in meat: Heart disease risk factor?
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Question
Byetta: Can diabetes drug also help me lose weight?
Tell me about the diabetes drug Byetta. Can it really help people who have diabetes lose weight? Is it available only to people who have diabetes?
Answer
from Maria Collazo-Clavell, M.D.
Although taken by injection, exenatide (Byetta) is not insulin. Byetta improves blood sugar control by mimicking the action of the hormone incretin. Among other things, Byetta allows insulin to work more effectively in the body.
Byetta not only improves blood sugar control but may also lead to weight loss. It's unclear exactly how Byetta causes weight loss, but one effect of the drug is that it delays the movement of food from the stomach into the small intestine. As a result, people taking Byetta may feel "full" faster and longer, so they eat less.
The most common side effect of Byetta is mild to moderate nausea, which improves with time in most people. Several cases of kidney problems, including kidney failure, have been reported in people who have taken Byetta. Rarely, Byetta may cause harmful inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis).
Byetta is designed for people who have diabetes and hasn't been studied as a weight-loss aid in people who have normal blood sugar. If you have diabetes and wonder if Byetta may be helpful, talk to your doctor.
Next questionCaffeine: Does it affect blood sugar?
- Byetta (prescribing information). San Diego, Calif.: Amylin Pharmaceuticals; 2009. http://pi.lilly.com/us/byetta-pi.pdf. Accessed Dec. 9, 2009.
- Dungan K. GLP-1-based therapies for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 9, 2009.
- FDA: Byetta label revised to include safety information on possible kidney problems. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm188708.htm. Accessed Dec. 9, 2009.
- Information for healthcare professionals: Exenatide (marketed as Byetta): 8/2008 update. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/PostmarketDrugSafetyInformationforPatientsandProviders/ucm124713.htm. Accessed Dec. 9, 2009.
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