One year after stopping treatment with new generation weight loss drugs, about 1 in 5 people regain 100% of the pounds lost. This is what a new survey conducted by researchers at Epic Research in the United States shows, based on clinical data from almost 40,000 Americans available in the Epic Cosmos database.
Even so, those responsible highlighted that a considerable portion, around 35%, continued to lose weight even without the medication. This is what researcher Kersten Bartelt, from Epic Research, one of those responsible for the analysis, pointed out.
“This suggests that these medications may have a lasting impact on weight control, even after cessation,” he told the specialized portal Healio, and continued: “Future research could focus on understanding the reasons for weight regain after discontinuation of these drugs. medications and explore the long-term effects these medications have on weight management and other side effects.”
The survey was not published in a scientific journal, therefore it was not peer-reviewed. However, it takes a look at a large number of people who used semaglutide – sold under the trade names Ozempic and Wevovy – (20,274 patients) and liraglutide – Saxenda – (17,733 patients) to lose weight.
Those responsible selected from the database individuals for whom the medicines were prescribed for a specific period between January 2017 and January 2023. Furthermore, they needed to have used the medicine for at least 90 days (three months), have lost it when less than 2.3 kg and not having used it again in the year following the end of therapy.
The results of the analysis indicated that 17.7% of patients who used semalgutide, and 18.7% of the liraglutide group, regained 100% of their weight or more after 12 months of use. Another 26%, on both medications, recovered 25% to 100% of the weight lost. In total, approximately 44% had some gain after the end of treatment.
However, the survey also revealed that around 35% continued to lose weight. 19% of these patients, using both medications, lost more than 100% of what they had previously. Another 17%, in the case of semaglutide, and 16%, in the case of liraglutide, lost between 26% and 100% even after stopping the use of the medications.
Another 20% fluctuated between a gain of up to 24% or a loss of up to 25% of the kilos that disappeared during treatment, which the researchers considered a weight maintenance scenario.
Weight recovery
Analyzes of weight changes after the end of treatment with medicines such as Ozempic, Saxenda and Wegovy have been frequent as we seek to understand whether the medicines need to be administered continuously – as obesity is a chronic disease.
A study, published in the scientific journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, in 2022, evaluated 1,961 adults who participated in semaglutide clinical trials. After the 68-week period (just over a year) of weekly skin injections, they lost an average of 17.3% of their initial weight.
Then, 327 volunteers were followed for another year. During the period without medication, the volunteers regained, on average, two thirds of the weight lost, which led to the final change in relation to the weight at the beginning being just 5.6%, instead of the 17.3% of the first year.
“The findings confirm the chronicity of obesity and highlight the importance of maintaining long-term pharmacological treatment for weight control in people with obesity,” the scientists wrote.
The same was recently observed with tirzepatide, a substance in Mounjaro also indicated for weight loss in obese patients. In work published in JAMA, 783 volunteers were followed for an initial period of 36 weeks, approximately 9 months. During this time, everyone received the medication and lost approximately 20.9% of their weight.
Then, 670 were divided into two groups and evaluated for another 52 weeks, about a year. The first continued to receive the monthly injection of tirzepatide, while the second started to receive a placebo. At the end of this second stage, those who remained on the medicine had an additional 5.5% weight reduction. Those who interrupted treatment regained, on average, 14% of their weight.
Therefore, considering the total time of 88 weeks, the group that underwent treatment without interrupting it achieved a total loss of 25.3% of body weight, while in the other it was only 9.9%.
2024-02-06 02:35:46
#Ozempic #Saxenda #people #regains #weight #year #Jornal #Sul
