If you’ve been investigating GLP-1 receptor agonists as a treatment for type 2 diabetes or for weight management, you may have heard about Liraglutide and Dulaglutide.
As with many similar medications, it can be difficult to pin down the difference between these treatments if you’re not sure where to look or even what to look for.
This is why we’re here to shed some light on the differences between Liraglutide and Dulaglutide, so keep reading to learn more about each medication and which one could be the right choice for you.
What is Liraglutide?
Liraglutide is a GLP-1 receptor agonist and it’s used in two medications — Victoza and Saxenda.
As Saxenda, it’s licensed for use as a weight management treatment, helping you to stick to a calorie-controlled diet by reducing your appetite and slowing down stomach emptying.
Successful Saxenda patients usually lose at least 5% of their starting body weight after 12 weeks of taking the highest dose of Liraglutide, which is a huge improvement in terms of overall health.
As Victoza, Liraglutide is used to help patients with type 2 diabetes manage their blood sugar levels, reducing their risk of the complications high blood sugar can cause.
What is Dulaglutide?
Dulaglutide is another member of the group of GLP-1 receptor agonist medications, and it can be found in a treatment called Trulicity.
It’s used as a treatment for type 2 diabetes, and like Liraglutide, it’s used to help patients manage their blood sugar levels.
It can be taken with other diabetes medications, including insulin injections, as a part of your treatment plan.
What is the difference between Liraglutide and Dulaglutide?
Liraglutide and Dulaglutide are very similar medications, they’re both used for type 2 diabetes, they’re both self-injected medications, and they’re both GLP-1 receptor agonists.
With that being said, there are a few big differences between these medications too.
The one we’re most concerned with here at myBMI is that Dulaglutide is only licensed for use in diabetes patients, while Liraglutide can be used for both diabetes and obesity.
Another big difference is how often the treatment is taken, Dulaglutide needs one injection a week and Liraglutide is injected once a day.
Which is better for weight loss?
As only one of the two medications we’re looking at here is licensed for weight loss, we think there’s a very clear winner when you consider which is better suited to tackle obesity.
As the active ingredient in Saxenda, Liraglutide has been making a huge difference in the lives of patients who need a helping hand with weight management.
While Dulaglutide is an effective type 2 diabetes treatment, manufacturers haven’t attempted to license it for weight loss as they did with Liraglutide, so we can’t see it being made available as a treatment for both conditions any time soon.
If you’re looking for a direct competitor to Saxenda, we’d recommend looking into Wegovy, which has recently been licensed in the UK and uses a different GLP-1 receptor agonist (Semaglutide) as its active ingredient.
Now we’ve all learned more about the differences between Dulaglutide and Liraglutide, we hope you’re one step closer to making an informed decision about your healthcare plan.
If you’re considering starting GLP-1 injections for weight loss, why not take a look at some of our other articles?
Here are some of our most popular pieces about Liraglutide, Saxenda, and other GLP-1 weight loss treatments that are available in the UK right now.
