People who stop taking weight loss jabs regain all the weight originally lost in under two years, significantly faster than those on any other weight loss plan, according to a landmark study.<\/p>\n
Weight loss medications, known as GLP-1 agonists, were originally developed as treatment for diabetes and work by mimicking the glucagon-like peptide (GLP) 1 hormone which helps people feel full.<\/p>\n
The study<\/a>, led by academics at the University of Oxford and published in the BMJ, included a review of 37 existing studies regarding weight loss medication, involving 9,341 participants. The average duration of weight loss treatment being 39 weeks while the average follow up period was 32 weeks.<\/p>\n On average, weight was regained at a rate of 0.4kg per month for people who had stopped taking the medication, the analysis found, with participants returning to their original weight within an average of 1.7 years after stopping any type of weight loss medication.<\/p>\n Specifically, people on any kind of weight loss medication lost an average of 8.3kg during treatment, but regained 4.8kg within the first year,<\/p>\n The rate at which weight was regained after stopping these medications was almost four times faster compared with behavioural programmes, which may include a specific diet or physical activity plan, regardless of the amount of weight that was lost during treatment.<\/p>\n Dr Sam West, of the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences at the University of Oxford<\/a>, said the rapid weight gain seen after stopping weight loss drugs was not due to the medication itself.<\/p>\n \u201cThese medicines are transforming obesity treatment and can achieve important weight loss. However, our research shows that people tend to regain weight rapidly after stopping \u2013 faster than we see with behavioural programmes,\u201d West said.<\/p>\n He added: \u201cThis isn\u2019t a failing of the medicines \u2013 it reflects the nature of obesity as a chronic, relapsing condition. It sounds a cautionary note for short-term use without a more comprehensive approach to long-term weight management, and highlights the importance of primary prevention.\u201d<\/p>\n Previous studies have suggested weight loss medication can also have a beneficial impact on other areas of a patient\u2019s health, as seen in the study into drugs that could halve heart patients\u2019 risk of an early death.<\/a><\/p>\n However, this study also found that the benefits weight loss drugs can have on cardio-metabolic health markers, such as on blood pressure and cholesterol, also returned to their original level within 1.4 years of stopping treatment.<\/p>\n Although previous studies have suggested people on weight loss drugs regain all the weight they have lost within a year<\/a> of stopping medication, this is the first study which provides the rate of weight regain and estimated time frames for weight and metabolic reversal.<\/p>\n