IT has been hailed as a ‘miracle’, helping those most in need to shift excess timber quicker than ever.
But relying on weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic or Monjauro may not be as effective in the long-term as first thought, a landmark study has warned.
According to academics at the University of Oxford, people who go cold turkey after a spell on the jabs put weight back on at a quicker rate than those on any other weight loss plan.
In fact, people who stop taking weight loss jobs on average regain all the weight originally lost in under two years.
Dr Sam West, a postdoctoral researcher at Oxford who led the study, said: “These medicines are transforming obesity treatment and can achieve important weight loss.
“However, our research shows that people tend to regain weight rapidly after stopping – faster than we see with behavioural programmes.”
He added: “This isn’t a failing of the medicines – it reflects the nature of obesity as a chronic, relapsing condition. It sounds a cautionary note for short-term use without a more comprehensive approach to long-term weight management, and highlights the importance of primary prevention.”
Researchers followed the weight loss journeys of 9,341 participants, with an average follow-up period of 32 weeks after patients had stopped taking the drugs.
On average, weight was regained at a rate of 0.4kg per month, with participants returning to their pre-jab weight an average of 1.7 years after stopping medication.
People on any kind of weight loss medication lost an average of 8.3kg during treatment but put 4.8kg back on within the first twelve months.
That is a rate of increase almost four times faster than traditional weight-loss programmes which focus on diet or physical activity.
Previous studies have suggested weight-loss jobs can have a positive effect on a patient’s general health, improving cardio-metabolic health markers such as blood pressure or cholesterol levels.
But those returned to their original level within 1.4 years of stopping treatment.
“Weight loss drugs can be effective tools for managing weight and type 2 diabetes risk – but this research reinforces that they are not a quick fix,” said Dr Faye Riley, research communications lead at Diabetes UK.
“They need to be prescribed appropriately, with tailored wraparound support alongside them, to ensure people can fully benefit and maintain weight loss for as long as possible when they stop taking the medication.”
Weight-loss medications were originally developed as a treatment for diabetes and work by mimicking the GLP-1 hormone which helps people feel full after eating.
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