Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro: treatment must be continuous – 05/01/2024 – Balance and Health

Known as weight-loss pens, new subcutaneous medications for the treatment of obesity have caught the attention of the general public with promises of efficient weight loss results. However, scientific studies show that these new drugs only guarantee an effect while they are being used.

At the end of last year, a study published in the scientific journal Journal of the American Medical Association showed the need for continued use of Mounjaro (tirzepatide). In total, 670 participants received the maximum safe doses of the drug for nine months, and had an average loss of 20% of body weight.

After this period, some volunteers had their medication replaced by placebo. Among this group, over the following three months, there was a 14% weight regain, while those who continued treatment with the drug had an additional loss of 5% of their initial body mass.

In 2021, the results of a clinical study with semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy, were published in the same journal. In this research there were 800 participants who, for five months, received the medicine. Average weight loss corresponded to 10% of initial body weight.

Over the next 11 months, the volunteers were also divided into those who continued the treatment and those who started receiving a placebo. While the first group continued to lose weight, losing over 8% of body mass, the second group gained around 7% in weight.

Lenita Zajdenverg, nutritionist at the UFRJ University Hospital, explains that, in adulthood, each of us has a body weight to which the body tends to return. The use of medicines such as Ozempic increases the feeling of satiety and inhibits our urge to eat, helping to lose weight. But when you stop taking the medication, the hunger returns. It’s a way for the body to ensure that we reach the weight it considers ideal.

“The use of these medications must be chronic, because obesity is a chronic disease”, adds Zajdenverg, “and just like other chronic diseases, such as high blood pressure or diabetes, the treatment is for life.” In addition to continued use, the nutritionist highlights the importance of having medical monitoring during the process. According to her, a specialist is able to alleviate side symptoms and regulate doses, when necessary.

Although they are relatively safe, some patients may experience adverse effects. Nausea, gastrointestinal discomfort and vomiting are the most common. In some cases these symptoms can be controlled, but in others it is necessary to stop using it. A recent study points out that the best alternative to mitigate the effects of weight regain is to combine treatment with physical activity.

Danish researchers conducted a clinical study with around 100 volunteers divided into four different groups who underwent treatment for a year with either liraglutide (the active ingredient in Saxenda) or physical exercise or the medicine and physical activity combined or placebo. After this period, they underwent another year of follow-up.

The final results show that, in addition to promoting more significant results during treatment, the combination of exercises with physical activity also guaranteed longer retention of weight loss. More volunteers in this group maintained a reduction of at least 10% of their initial weight compared to those who received placebo or liraglutide.

“One thing that protects against obesity treatment failure is exercise,” says Zajdenverg. Therefore, for experts, the advent of new drugs does not eliminate or replace more traditional methods of combating obesity, especially the search for a less sedentary lifestyle.