CW: weight loss.
A study conducted by researchers at the University of Oxford suggests that maintaining weight loss may be particularly challenging after discontinuing weight-loss medications such as Ozempic. The research, led by the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, found that many individuals experience rapid weight gain once treatment is stopped.
The study, published in The British Medical Journal (BMJ), is a review and meta-analysis of 37 studies involving 9,341 adults who stopped weight management medicines after an average of 39 weeks of treatment. Participants were followed for an average of 32 weeks after discontinuation.
Dr Sam West, the lead author, told Cherwell that the study “included any medication that has ever been licensed for weight loss. So this included older medications such as orlistat, the older GLP1 medications such as liraglutide and then newer GLP1 medications such as semaglutide and tirzepatide”.
Across all weight-management drugs included in the review, weight increased by an average of 0.9 pounds per month after treatment stopped. At that rate, the researchers estimate people would return to their starting weight within 1.5 to 2 years after stopping the medication. For newer medicines such as Semaglutide and Tirzepatide, regain averaged 1.8 pounds per month, indicating a return to baseline by about 1.5 years.
The review suggests that the regain following the discontinuation of medication occurred more rapidly than after ending behavioural weight loss programmes, such as exercise or dieting, by approximately 0.7 pounds per month. While behavioural support alongside medication was associated with greater weight loss during treatment, it did not slow the rate of regain afterwards.
Dr Sam West, said the results “sound a cautionary note for short-term use without a more comprehensive approach to weight management”, adding this “isn’t a failing of the medicines” but “obesity as a chronic, relapsing condition”. Senior author Associate Professor Koutoukidis then suggested one reason for faster regain may be that people using drugs “don’t need to consciously practise changing their diet to lose weight”, so they may not develop strategies that help maintain weight loss once treatment ends.
The analysis also raises questions about how these drugs are used in practice. The team noted that an estimated nine in ten people currently using weight loss medicines in the UK are purchasing them privately, often without the clinical oversight and behavioural support that the NHS usually prescribes. Professor Susan Jebb, a joint senior author, said that the findings “underscore the need for a more holistic and long term approach to weight management”, alongside greater emphasis on prevention of weight gain.
Dr West told Cherwell: “The findings can allow patients and practitioners to make fully informed decisions about what treatments is best for weight management. The new medications are very effective in helping people lose weight but people need to be aware of the rapid weight regain after they stop taking the medication.”
