Study finds weight and health benefits disappear rapidly after quitting weight loss drugs
A new study shows that people who quit weight loss medications, including GLP-1 drugs, gained back weight four times faster than those who stopped dieting or exercising.
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At this point, millions of people in the US have tried at least one of a variety of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist drugs, such as Zepbound or Vegovy. For some people, these medications have resulted in significant weight loss and often improved heart health. But many people have stopped using the drugs – despite the fact that they have been promoted as lifelong treatments. This raises the question: What will happen to people’s health after they stop taking these drugs?
A new review study provides some clues to the answer. The research was published on Wednesday In bmj found that people who stopped taking weight loss medications, including GLP-1 medications, were likely to do so Watch as all the weight loss and heart health benefits disappear in less than two yearsThe results also showed that people who stop taking any kind of weight loss medication regain their weight four times faster than those who stop dieting or working out to lose weight,
“Weight gain after a period of weight loss is really common, no matter what approach you take,” says Sam West, lead author of the study and a research scientist at the University of Oxford who specializes in integrative metabolism. “The fact that people regained their weight after stopping the drug was not very surprising, but what was surprising was how fast it happened.”
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In addition to new GLP-1 drugs on the market, the study evaluated clinical trials on various weight loss drugs, including older generation GLP-1 drugs and drugs from outside the class, such as orlistat and the combination of phentermine and topiramate. They compared data from those treatments to previous analyzes on behavioral weight-loss interventions, which included various diet programs and exercise regimens.
People who took weight loss medications gained an average of about one pound (0.4 kg) a month after they stopped treatment. All their cardiometabolic markers, including blood sugar levels, blood pressure and cholesterol, also reversed.
The study estimated that ultimately, people’s weight could return to pre-treatment levels within 1.7 years of stopping the drugs and heart health markers could return to their pre-treatment levels within 1.4 years. However, West says longer-term data is needed to confirm these estimates.
These findings suggest that, while weight loss medications produce results faster than diet and exercise alone, quitting them also causes weight to come back much faster, regardless of how much weight was initially lost.
“If you look at the charts from the study, which I thought were striking, you’ll see that you can gain more weight and be worse off than before,” says Rosalina McCoy, M.D., an endocrinologist and internist at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
People who take weight loss drugs lose weight fat, muscle and bone mass-But McCoy says they have a tendency to gain most of the fat back if they don’t exercise regularly. “Even if you get back to the same weight as you were before, metabolically, you’re much less healthy,” she says.
One possible strategy would be to have people go straight into a behavioral program, such as a diet or exercise regimen, after coming off medications. But McCoy says that approach will need to be tried and tested.
West says more assessments of changes in people’s weight and health after stopping treatment, conducted outside of clinical trials, would help researchers more fully understand what’s happening.
But obesity medicine physician Chika Anekwe of the Massachusetts General Hospital Weight Center, who was not involved in the research, says the study is “on par with what we see clinically” in many people who stop GLP-1 medications.
“It goes back to the effects that GLP-1 drugs have on appetite control. And once that’s taken over, it’s really difficult to maintain any type of behavior that was helping you keep the weight off,” she says.
Treating obesity is not just a matter of willpower for a few people, Anekwe says, and the results underscore what happens when interventions that support weight loss are disrupted.
“I think it’s a good reminder for insurance companies: When they suddenly change patients’ coverage or limit access to medications, it can have long-term effects,” she says.
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