Four in five people put the weight back on after coming of weight loss jabs, new research has suggested today—and they’re not just regaining a few pounds.
A 36-week international trial found that people who had been taking Mounjaro—a diabetes medication now prescribed for weight loss—regained at least 25 per cent of the weight once they stopped taking it.
More than 300 people took part in the clinical trial, which was overseen by a team of researchers from the University of Texas and funded by the drug’s manufacturer, Eli Lilly.
The 308 participants took tirzepatide—the active medicine in Mounjaro—for 36-weeks before being moved to a placebo drug for a year, to monitor how much weight they gained back.
They were also prescribed a reduced calorie diet and instructed to increase their levels of physical exercise.
In the study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, the researchers noted that participants saw weight loss and health improvements while taking the drug.
However, during the year-long period they received the placebo, 82 per cent of those who had originally achieved meaningful weight loss had regained at least 25 per cent of that weight.
They also noted that the more weight participants regained, the higher the decrease in associated health improvements, including cholesterol levels and fasting insulin.
The study found that even with lifestyle changes, weight was regained after stopping the jabs
Those who put the weight back on after coming off of Mounjaro also experienced an increase in blood pressure, putting them at higher risk of stroke.
The researchers said: ‘As expected and in line with similar research with obesity management medications, five-seven withdrawal of tirzepatide, sold under the brand name Mounjaro, led to most participants regaining weight despite continued lifestyle intervention.’
They concluded that ‘these findings underscore the importance of continued obesity treatment.’
Around 2.5million Britons are thought to be on weight loss injections such as Mounjaro, Ozempic and Wegovy.
They are classed as GLP-1 agonists, and work by mimicking a hormone found naturally in the body.
Dubbed the ‘King Kong’ of weight loss drugs, Mounjaro works by signalling the body to produce more insulin when needed, reducing the amount of glucose produced by the liver and slowing down digestion.
Mounjaro will be offered to around 220,000 people over the next three years under new NHS prescribing rules.
Previously the potent drug, which helps patients shed up to a fifth of their body weight in a year, was available privately and at a small number of specialist NHS weight loss clinics.
GPs can now prescribe the drug to patients with a BMI over 40 – classed as severely obese – and at least four obesity-related health conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure or sleep apnoea.
Doctors have long insisted that weight loss jabs are ‘game changers’ when it comes to fighting back against Britain’s long-running problem of obesity, which costs the economy an estimated £100billion per year.
Weight-related illness costs the economy £74billion a year, with people who are overweight at increased risk of heart disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes.
Two in three Britons are classed as overweight or obese and NHS figures show people now weigh about a stone more than 30 years ago.
More than 30 new GLP-1 drugs are thought to currently be in development worldwide, including an oral pill made by the maker of Wegovy and Ozempic, Novo Nordisk.
