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Patients Maintain Weight Loss One Year After Discontinuing GLP-1 Drugs
An Epic Research study evaluating the long-term effects of GLP-1 drugs noted that patients maintained weight loss for one year after stopping semaglutide and liraglutide.
Earlier this week, Epic Research published a dual-team Cosmos study assessing how stopping glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, sometimes called GLP-1 drugs, can impact long-term weight loss. The study revealed that, despite common belief, most patients who discontinue these medications maintain their weight loss one year after their last dose.
Previously, Jay Bhatt, MD, Managing Director at the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions and Health Equity Institute, told PharmaNewsIntelligence that some patients taking GLP-1 drugs for weight loss risk regaining the weight after ceasing medication use because their appetite is no longer suppressed.
This belief has been echoed by multiple other resources, including a study published in Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism. Data from that study suggested that patients who discontinued semaglutide regained approximately two-thirds of their weight after stopping treatment.
However, this recent study contradicts that data. Looking at 20,274 patients who were prescribed semaglutide and lost 5 lbs or more on the medication, the research revealed that only 17.7% of the patients regained or exceeded their weight before the medication.
Conversely, 56.2% of patients maintained their weight loss or continued to lose weight. More specifically, an estimated 20% maintained their weight loss, which included changes from a 24% regain to a 25% increase in weight loss. Approximately 19% of patients doubled their weight loss. Over 17% had some additional weight loss, ranging from a 26–100% further reduction in weight.
Similar outcomes were displayed when looking at the 17,733 patients taking liraglutide. Some patients taking and ceasing liraglutide, 18.7% ultimately regained or exceeded their weight loss. Approximately 21% maintained their weight loss, and 35% lost additional weight. The remainder gained some extra weight but not enough to reach their starting weight.
This data suggests that weight loss drugs may have longitudinal effects and foster sustained weight loss. However, since many studies contradict each other, additional research is needed to evaluate the long-term effects of these medications accurately.
