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Overweight and obese people who stop taking weight-loss drugs regain weight four times faster than if they stopped a diet or exercise program, a new study has revealed.
Half of all people on new weight-loss drugs like Wegovy/Ozempic (drug name: semaglutide) abandon use within a year. Evidence suggest most discontinue either because of the high cost or the side effects, which can include severe gastric issues and, in some cases, death.
Around 1 in 8 US adults say they’re currently taking a weight-loss medication.
The authors of the new study performed a meta-analysis, looking at published accounts and pooling and analyzing the data from all of them.
Their analysis of thousands of participants showed that users of with weight-loss drugs regained on average 0.4 kg/month after stopping treatment, or 4.8 kg / 10 pounds in the first year.
Health markers for diabetes and heart disease were estimated to return to pre-treatment levels within two years.
“What we found particularly shocking was just how fast weight was regained after people stopped taking medication,” one of the authors said.
People who stopped taking weight-loss medications regained weight at a rate four times faster than those who stopped an exercise or diet program.
Why? In part, this may be because individuals on weight-loss medication don’t learn the discipline and habits learnt by individuals who follow exercise and diet programs.
The meta-study clearly shows that weight-loss medication is a long-term treatment. Executives at manufacturers like Eli Lily have admitted users might have to remain on their drugs for life to keep the weight off.
At the end of last month, Infowars reported that a new era of weight-loss pills has arrived, after the Food and Drug Administration approved a daily pill version of Novo Nordisk’s drug Wegovy.
Novo Nordisk is testing semaglutide for children as young as six, and a whole host of new applications for drugs like semaglutide are being proposed, including as treatments for addiction and neurological conditions like Alzheimer’s, and even as anti-aging drugs.
In 2023, semaglutide drugs earned Novo Nordisk a whopping $21.1 billion dollars, accounting for almost two-thirds of the company’s entire revenue. Sales of the drug in its various forms were up 89% on the previous year. 71% of the drugs revenues come from customers in the US.
Novo Nordisk is now Europe’s most valuable company, with a market capitalization of $570 billion—larger than the entire Danish economy.
In recent months, as publicity for and use of these new “miracle” drugs has grown tremendously, more attention has been drawn to their side effects. Psychiatric issues, hormonal problems including reduced testosterone and loss of libido, inhalation of the contents of the stomach, and even permanent lifelong diarrhea have been reported.
Tens of thousands of people are now suing Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly for the physical damages they claim to have suffered.
Huge payouts, in the hundreds of millions or even billions, may be necessary to stem the flood of claims.
