No need for lifetime on weight-loss jabs
200 quit and stay trim in study
SLIMMERS on weight loss jabs could gradually stop them without piling weight on, medics say.
Many doctors believe the obese must take the weekly shots for life.
But a study of 2,246 people suggests injections can be prescribed at much lower doses and even stopped if patients get help to improve their diets and lifestyles.
Some 200 who cut down and stopped had not put weight back on six months later, the European Congress on Obesity in Venice heard. Dr
Henrik Gudbergsen said: “We used to think these drugs are for ever or you put the weight back on. Now, we know that’s too simplistic.” Research was done on users of semaglutide, known by brand names Wegovy and Ozempic, at Embla, a weight loss clinic in Denmark.
The jabs mimic the hormone GLP-1 to reduce appetite, slow food release from the stomach and increase feelings of fullness. A previous trial found one in six stopped taking the jabs after suffering side-effects like vomiting, diarrhoea and headaches.
Patients working with doctors and counsellors at Embla to taper their doses managed to lose the same amount – around 15% of their body weight – but only needed a third of the current standard dose.
And 240 participants decided to stop altogether, with only 46 restarting due to small weight gain.
Dr Gudbergsen, Embla’s chief medical officer, said: “The dose really doesn’t matter. They lose the same weight regardless. That is important in that we can achieve a personalised dose and help minimise side-effects and lifelong dependency.”
A 2022 study of 1,900 by Aintree University Hospital in Liverpool found users regained two-thirds of the weight they had lost after stopping for 12 months. One problem is 40% of weight lost on these drugs is muscle mass rather than fat.
Professor Alex Miras, of Ulster University, said: “When the regain takes place there is more fat than muscle added. That’s bad as muscle is important for energy expenditure.
“It makes it more difficult to lose weight in the next attempt.”