Health4 min(s) read
A doctor has issued a brutally honest warning to people taking weight-loss drugs.
Drugs such as Mounjaro and Wegovy have become very popular in recent years as a growing number of people are turning to the injections to help them lose weight.
While the medications were initially designed to manage conditions including type two diabetes, some are now also approved for weight loss because of their appetite-suppressing effects.
The drugs work by mimicking the hormone GLP-1, helping people feel fuller and reducing their appetite.
But despite their soaring popularity, questions remain over how long people should stay on the medications and what happens after they stop.
New research from the University of Oxford, published in the British Medical Journal, examined 37 trials involving more than 9,000 people who took weight-loss medications, including semaglutide (Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro).
Participants received treatment for an average of 10 months and were followed up for an average of eight months.
Researchers found that people taking the medications lost an average of 8.3kg, but regained 4.8kg within a year of stopping treatment.
According to the study, users returned to their original weight in about 1.7 years, faster than traditional dieters.
The benefits were not limited to the number on the scales, either.
Improvements in measures including blood sugar and cholesterol also faded after treatment ended, with all cardiometabolic markers returning to baseline within approximately 1.4 years.
The findings have underscored the need for long-term support for people using the drugs, rather than assuming the weight will remain off once treatment ends.
Susan Jebb, professor of diet and population health at the University of Oxford, chair of the Food Standards Agency, and a co-author of the study, spoke about the findings in an interview with The Telegraph.
She warned: "They’re expensive and you need to be fully informed, so you can really consider whether they’re value for money for you...I don’t discourage people from taking these medications because they are very effective. I just don’t want them to be seduced by the idea that they’ll be two stone lighter ever after."
Jebb also warned against people who are not overweight using the medications, "because we don’t know the effects".
She explained: "The slimmer you are to start with, the more muscle you tend to lose, and so if people are taking these to improve their physique, this is probably not the right way to do it. These are a treatment for obesity, they’re not about changing the way you look.
"Taking it for a few weeks to lose a bit of weight, say before a holiday, and then coming off it, with likely a very high chance of regaining the weight, doesn’t seem to me a sensible plan."
Her bottom-line message for those who stop taking the medication was that "you’re going to have to work extra hard to keep the weight off. That’s the message".
A spokesperson for Eli Lilly, the maker of Mounjaro, said obesity should be treated as a long-term condition and that weight returning after treatment ends reflects the biology of the disease.
The spokesperson said: "Obesity is a chronic progressive disease, and people living with obesity deserve care that reflects that reality. Many long-term conditions, such as high blood pressure or diabetes, need ongoing treatment."
"Authorised weight-management medicines, when prescribed appropriately, can be part of longer-term care alongside healthy eating, physical activity, and medical follow-up. When treatment is stopped, weight can return, which reflects the biology of the condition rather than a lack of effort."
"Lilly continues to study the long-term effects of these medicines and works closely with healthcare professionals and people living with obesity to support their safe and appropriate use," they added.
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