People who stop taking weight-loss drugs are likely to regain their original weight within two years, according to a review of a large number of studies published in the journal BMJ.
Drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro have become bestsellers because they have been shown to be effective in regulating appetite and causing weight loss. Now, researchers have reviewed data from more than 9,000 people in 37 studies that examined the effects of stopping the medication.
Positive effects disappeared
The review found participants lost an average of 8.3 kilograms during treatment, regardless of medication type. During the first year after stopping treatment, they had gained an average of 4.8 kilograms.
The positive effects on heart health, cholesterol and blood pressure for participants taking the medications were estimated to disappear within 18 months.
Compared with people who took part in courses designed to change diet and exercise behaviors, those who took medication alone lost more weight. But they also gained more weight when they stopped treatment. The researchers highlighted the importance of combining drug treatment with lifestyle changes.
Different types of drugs
“Obesity is a chronic condition and it is very clear that some form of intervention is needed if we are to maintain the benefits of treatments,” says Susan Jebb, a researcher in nutrition and public health at Oxford and one of the co-authors of the study.
The analysis included several types of weight-loss drugs. Eight of the included studies were about the new appetite suppressants. Since several have not been on the market long, they have not been followed for as long as earlier weight-loss drugs. The researchers therefore made calculations to estimate how weight and health are affected over a few years.
