New data from Epic Research suggests that a popular class of weight loss drugs may have more lasting success than expected. A study of medical records found that a small majority of people who took GLP-1 drugs, such as semaglutide, maintained or improved their weight loss a year after they stopped using the drug. However, more than a third of former users have significantly regained most or all of their original weight.
Semaglutide mimics the natural GLP-1 hormone and helps regulate hunger and metabolism, especially insulin production. It is the active ingredient in the type 2 diabetes drug Ozempic and the high-dose obesity drug Wegovy (since Wigovy was approved by the FDA in 2021, Ozempic is often prescribed off-label for weight loss purposes). In Wegovy’s large randomized controlled clinical trial, people lost an average of 15% of their weight. This far exceeds the typical weight loss seen with diet and exercise alone or with older weight loss drugs.
These and similar drugs (such as Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide) A new era in obesity treatment. Other studies have shown that these drugs may offer health benefits beyond weight loss, such as lowering the chance of heart attack in high-risk groups and reducing unhealthy cravings for alcohol. Something is starting to show. but, lingering doubts About the long-term effects on people’s weight and overall health. Clinical trial data includes foundFor example, on average, people regain most of the weight they lost when they stop taking the drug.
Epic Systems makes software used by health systems to create and maintain electronic health records. One of its offshoots, the health analytics organization Epic Research, has been studying the real-world consequences of GLP-1 drugs by examining medical records. These records are obtained from: universeis a database representing over 200 million patient records collected from healthcare systems in the United States and Lebanon using Epic. For example, a survey conducted by the organization in April last year found the following: found People who took the highest approved dose of semaglutide lost 8% to 11% of their baseline body weight within 60 weeks, which was slightly below the average weight loss observed in clinical trials.
In their latest research, released On Tuesday, Epic researchers analyzed what happened to nearly 20,000 patients who were prescribed semaglutide, lost at least 5% of their weight while taking it, and then stopped taking it over the course of a year.
According to their study, about 18% of these patients regained all or even exceeded the weight they lost within a year. An additional 26% of patients regained more than 25% of their lost weight. However, about 56% of patients maintained their weight loss (20% total) or continued to lose more weight, and 19% doubled their weight loss by the end of the year. Researchers also studied the outcomes of people who stopped taking liraglutide, an older and less effective GLP-1 drug, and found that a similar pattern of weight change unfolded over 12 months.
These findings have not been scrutinized through traditional peer review processes and should be considered more carefully. But the authors say they ran their own analysis in two groups and found similar results. And the findings don’t necessarily contradict older data.
Even the initial clinical trials of these drugs did not show that everyone regained weight after stopping treatment, only that a significant amount of weight regain occurred on average ( One trial of semaglutideFor example, on average, participants regained two-thirds of their previous loss after one year). Therefore, there was almost certainly a subgroup of people within this study population who did not gain any weight back.
Further research is needed to verify the trends seen here. But the new study suggests that at least some people can stop taking GLP-1 without losing its health benefits. It may also mean that there are ways to increase your chances of continued weight loss after treatment ends, such as dietary and exercise counseling. Many people need long-term medications to manage chronic conditions, so there is nothing inherently wrong with continuing to take these medications. However, GLP-1’s high cost and limited insurance coverage make it difficult for some people to purchase her GLP-1 on an ongoing basis.