January 24, 2024 – An evaluation of the health records of people that lost weight while pharmaceuticals akin to Wegovy, Saxenda or Ozempic found that many largely maintained their weight reduction or continued to lose kilos inside a yr after their prescription ended.
The latest Results come from an evaluation of health records by researchers on the electronic health records company Epic. They examined data from individuals who were prescribed semaglutide, the lively ingredient in the load loss drug Wegovy and likewise an lively ingredient within the diabetes drugs Ozempic and Rybelsus. They also evaluated data from people taking liraglutide, the lively ingredient in Saxenda. Saxenda is approved to treat diabetes and obesity, and liraglutide can be a part of the diabetes drug Victoza. The study didn't discover the particular medications study participants were taking apart from the lively ingredient, and patients could take different dosages.
The researchers noted that previous clinical research studies found that many individuals who lost weight while taking semaglutide regained the load after stopping treatment.
“For this reason, we wanted to further investigate the effects on weight after stopping semaglutide or liraglutide,” the authors write.
The Epic team found that of 20,274 individuals who were prescribed semaglutide and lost at the very least 5 kilos, about 18% regained all of the load lost inside a yr of stopping the drug, and a few people gained much more kilos.
But the brand new Epic study also showed that 56% of individuals “either had about the same weight they had when they stopped taking the medication or continued to lose additional weight,” the authors wrote. Researchers didn't release exact numbers on how many individuals maintained weight reduction of 5 kilos or more within the 12 months after stopping the drug, but they reported that a couple of in three people within the study lost at the very least one other pound that yr and 19% of individuals greater than doubled their weight reduction.
Of the 17,733 people within the study who were prescribed liraglutide and lost at the very least 5 kilos, about 19% regained all or a part of the load they lost within the yr after stopping the drug. The proportion of individuals prescribed liraglutide who later maintained or lost most of their weight was much like that of individuals taking semaglutide.
Data for the study was collected from some or all of 236 health systems that use Epic health data software and included information on people whose expected medication end date was between January 2017 and January 2023 Research methodology published by Epic. People within the study were required to receive a continuous prescription for at the very least 90 days, followed by a yr without orders for the drugs. Because researchers didn't know exactly when people within the study stopped taking the medication, they estimated that date using a calculation based on the variety of refills included on the prescription.