Cheyenne Suarez

This photograph taken on February 23, 2023, in Paris, shows the anti-diabetic medication Ozempic (semaglutide) made by Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk. Joel Saget, AFP

Article (news)

Study shows how fast kilos return after ending weight-loss drugs

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1767840987702anti-diabetic.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960" alt="This photograph taken on February 23, 2023, in Paris, shows the anti-diabetic medication Ozempic (semaglutide) made by Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk. Joel Saget, AFP"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">This photograph taken on February 23, 2023, in Paris, shows the anti-diabetic medication Ozempic (semaglutide) made by Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk.<em> Joel Saget, AFP </em></span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>PARIS, France - When people stop taking the new generation of weight-loss drugs they pile back on the kilos four times faster than they would after ending diet and exercise regimes, new research found Thursday.</p><p>But this was mostly because they lost so much weight in the first place, according to the British researchers who conducted the largest and most up-to-date review of the subject.</p><p>A new generation of appetite-suppressing, injectable drugs called GLP-1 agonists have become immensely popular in the last few years, transforming the treatment for obesity and diabetes in many countries.</p><p>They have been found to help people lose between 15-20 percent of their body weight.</p><p>&quot;This all appears to be a good news story,&quot; said Susan Jebb, a public health nutrition scientist at Oxford university and co-author of a new BMJ study.</p><p>However, recent data has suggested that &quot;around half of people discontinue these medications within a year,&quot; she told a press conference.</p><p>This might be because of common side effects such as nausea or the price -- these drugs can cost over $1,000 a month in the US.</p><p>So the researchers reviewed 37 studies looking at ceasing different weight-loss drugs, finding that participants regained around 0.4 kilograms a month.</p><p>Six of the clinical trials involved semaglutide -- the ingredient used in Novo Nordisk&#x27;s brands Ozempic and Wegovy -- and tirzepatide used for Eli Lilly&#x27;s Mounjaro and Zepbound.</p><p>While taking these two drugs, the trial participants lost an average of nearly 15 kilograms.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/health-science/2025/12/23/us-approves-first-glp-1-pill-for-weight-loss-novo-nordisk-0914">US approves first GLP-1 pill for weight loss: Novo Nordisk</a></div><p>However after stopping the medication, they regained 10 kilograms within a year, which was the longest follow-up period available for these relatively new drugs.</p><p>The researchers projected that the participants would return to their original weight in 18 months.</p><p>Measurements of heart health, including blood pressure and cholesterol levels, also returned to their original levels after 1.4 years.</p><p>People who were instead put on programmes that included diet and exercise -- but not drugs -- lost significantly less weight. However it took an average of four years for them to regain their lost kilos.</p><p>This meant that people taking the drugs regained their weight four times faster.</p><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LJT1oyDJ974?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>- &#x27;Starting point, not a cure&#x27; -</strong></div><p>&quot;Greater weight loss tends to result in faster weight regain,&quot; lead study author Sam West of Oxford University explained.</p><p>But separate analysis showed that weight gain was &quot;consistently faster after medication, regardless of the amount of weight lost in the first place,&quot; he added.</p><p>This could be because people who have learned to eat more healthily and exercise more often continue to do so even as they regain weight.</p><p>Jebb emphasised that GLP-1 drugs &quot;are a really valuable tool in obesity treatment -- but obesity is a chronic relapsing condition.&quot;</p><p>&quot;One would expect that these treatments need to be continued for life, just in the same way as blood pressure medication,&quot; Jebb said.</p><p>If this was the case, it would impact how national health systems judge whether these drugs are cost-effective, the researchers emphasised.</p><p>&quot;This new data makes it clear they are a starting point, not a cure,&quot; said Garron Dodd, a metabolic neuroscience researcher at the University of Melbourne not involved in the study.</p><p>&quot;Sustainable treatment will likely require combination approaches, longer-term strategies, and therapies that reshape how the brain interprets energy balance, not just how much people eat,&quot; he said.</p><p>dl/jh</p><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yYYx19nW9-k?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>When people stop taking the new generation of weight-loss drugs they pile back on the kilos four times faster than they would after ending diet and exercise regimes, new research found Thursday.</p>

When people stop taking the new generation of weight-loss drugs they pile back on the kilos four times faster than they would after ending diet and exercise regimes, new research found Thursday.