Weight loss medications like Mujaro (tirzepatide) are very effective if you actually take them.
Allan Black / Alami
People who stop taking weight loss drugs They typically regain lost weight in less than two years, according to a study of more than 9,000 people. Some argue that this highlights that obesity is a chronic disease that requires long-term treatment.
“These drugs are very effective, but obesity is a chronic, relapsing disease,” he said. Susan Jebb This was announced at the University of Oxford at a press briefing. “One would expect this treatment to be continued throughout life, just like blood pressure medications.”
Weight loss drugs have undoubtedly helped in the fight against obesity. This is especially true for new GLP-1 drugs that mimic a gut hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1, such as semaglutide, sold under the brand names Ozempic and Wegovy, and tirzepatide, sold under the brand names Mounjaro and Zepbound. Such drugs also affect our health in other ways, such as by lowering blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
But many people stop taking GLP-1 drugs because of side effects such as nausea or because of supply shortages due to soaring demand. “About half of people stop taking these medications within a year,” Jebb said.
Moreover, although many countries, including the US and some European countries, allow long-term use of GLP-1 drugs, the National Health Service in England, e.g. limits the use of semaglutide for weight loss in two years, based on estimates of its economic efficiency.
Previous studies show that people tend to gain weight when they come off semaglutide. However, it was less clear whether this applied to stopping weight loss interventions more broadly and how quickly weight gain occurs.
To find out, Jebb and her colleagues analyzed 37 studies that tracked the weight of more than 9,000 people. Participants were either overweight or obese and had been taking some type of weight-loss medication, including GLP-1 medications, for an average of 10 months. Participants were then followed for an observation period of approximately eight months.
Combining the effects of all weight-loss drugs, the researchers found that participants lost an average of 8.3 kilograms and also saw improvements in metabolic indicators such as blood pressure, cholesterol and blood glucose levels.
The team then entered weight measurements taken at follow-up periods into a statistical model and calculated that, on average, participants would regain all the weight they lost within 1.7 years of stopping the various medications.
Focusing on six studies of semaglutide and tirzepatide, researchers found that these drugs led to more weight loss than other drugs – an average of 14.7 kilograms – but participants taking these drugs were expected to regain all of the lost weight within 1.5 years. “Further research is needed to determine why weight gain occurs faster with these drugs than with others,” Jebb said.
The team also estimated that the rate of weight regain after stopping weight loss medications is about four times higher than what is observed after people stop a structured behavioral weight loss program where they are encouraged to eat healthily and exercise more, and are then forced to incorporate these into their lives.
However, the difference between these interventions may simply be that people who sign up for such a behavioral program may be more motivated to lose weight than those who choose to do so using drugs.
Another reason for the difference in the rate of weight gain may be that people taking such medications mostly lose weight due to appetite suppressants. Quitting them quickly increases people's hunger and cravings they haven't had to deal with in a while, potentially leading to faster weight gain, he says. Tarane Soleimani at Pennsylvania State University.
However, another analysis by the team found that providing behavioral support during follow-up periods of the study did not prevent weight gain. Further research is needed to understand how best to support those who stop taking weight-loss drugs, Soleimani says.
Jebb's study does show the importance of treatment, she said. obesity as a long-term condition. “We know that weight-loss medications are effective, and that the weight often comes back when you stop taking them,” Soleimani says. “These results reinforce the fact that obesity is a chronic disease and we need to keep patients on treatment for the long term.”
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