A comprehensive analysis of previous research has shown that the benefits of using weight-loss drugs, both in terms of weight and associated health problems, diminish within two years of stopping them.
By reviewing data from 9,341 patients with obesity or overweight, who underwent treatment in 37 studies using 18 different weight-loss drugs, researchers found that patients regained an average of 0.4 kilograms per month after stopping the medication. Projections indicate they would return to their pre-treatment weight within one year and seven months.
Loss of Benefits
According to a report on the study published in “The BMJ,” it is expected that risk factors associated with heart health, such as blood pressure and cholesterol levels, which improved while taking the drugs, will return to their pre-treatment levels within an average of one year and four months after stopping the medications.
Approximately half of the patients took “GLP-1” drugs, including 1,776 patients who received the newer and more effective “Semaglutide” drugs sold under the names “Ozempic” and “Wegovy” by “Novo Nordisk,” and “Tirzepatide” sold under the names “Mounjaro” and “Zepbound” by “Eli Lilly.”
The rate of weight regain was higher with “Semaglutide” and “Tirzepatide,” averaging approximately 0.8 kilograms per month.
The researchers concluded that regardless of the amount of weight lost, the monthly rate of weight regain is faster after taking weight-loss drugs compared to behavioral weight management programs.
The study was unable to determine whether some patients were better able than others to maintain their weight after losing it.
The study’s lead researcher, Dimitrios Koutoukidis from the University of Oxford, said, “Identifying who does well and who does not remains the most important question in weight loss research, but no one has an answer to that yet.”
