Latest news with #HamletGasoyan
Miami Herald
13 hours ago
- Health
- Miami Herald
Study: Real-world results of GLP-1 drugs don't match trials
Real-world results for blockbuster weight-loss meds like Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound aren't as impressive as those promised by the drugs' clinical trials, a new study says. People taking such GLP-1 drugs lost just under 9% of their body weight on average after a year, researchers reported Tuesday in the journal Obesity. That's far less than the 15% to 21% body weight reduction promised by the clinical trials that led to the approval of Wegovy (semaglutide) and Zepbound (tirzepatide) for weight loss, researchers said. "Patients treated for obesity with semaglutide or trizepatide lost less weight on average in a regular clinical setting compared to what is observed in randomized clinical trial," lead investigator Hamlet Gasoyan said in a news release. He is a researcher at the Cleveland Clinic Center for Value-Based Care Research. People taking the drugs in real-world settings appear to be more likely to quit taking the meds, researchers said. They also might be prescribed lower dosages in clinical practice than were used in the drug trials. Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) drugs mimic the GLP-1 hormone, which helps control insulin and blood sugar levels, decreases appetite and slows digestion of food. For this study, researchers tracked nearly 7,900 patients being treated by the Cleveland Clinic for severe obesity, of whom about 6,100 were prescribed semaglutide and the rest tirzepatide. Average body weight loss after a year was nearly 9% for the whole group, results show. But weight loss varied based on when a person stopped taking the drugs, researchers found. Average weight loss was under 4% for those who stopped treatment early, versus nearly 7% or those who stopped later on, the study says. Those who stayed on their medications lost an average 12% body weight. Results also show that more than 4 in 5 (81%) of patients were prescribed a low maintenance dose of their GLP-1 drug, and that made a difference as well. People who stayed on their meds and received high doses lost nearly 14% of their body weight with semaglutide and 18% with tirzepatide. "Our findings about the real-world use patterns of these medications and associated clinical outcomes could inform the decisions of health care providers and their patients on the role of treatment discontinuation and maintenance dosage in achieving clinically meaningful weight reductions," Gasoyan said. Overall, patients had higher odds of losing 10% or more of their body weight after a year if they remained on their meds, were prescribed a high dosage, were taking tirzepatide rather than semaglutide, and were female, results show. The cost of the drugs and problems were insurance were a common reason for patients stopping GLP-1 treatment, along with side effects and medication shortages, researchers said. Staying on the GLP-1 meds particularly helped the nearly 17% of patients who had prediabetes, a condition in which elevated blood sugar levels increase a person's risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. About 68% of those who stuck with their treatment wound up with normal blood sugar levels, compared with 41% who stopped taking the drugs later in the study and 33% who stopped earlier. "Type 2 diabetes is one of the most common complications of obesity, so diabetes prevention is very important," Gasoyan said. "This study highlights that treatment discontinuation, especially early, negatively affects both weight and glycemic control outcomes." A follow-up study is in the works to better track why patients stop taking their GLP-1 drugs, researchers said. More information Harvard Medical School has more on GLP-1 drugs. Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved. Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Weight-loss drugs were said to be a game changer. Turns out the benefit might be thinner than thought
Common GLP-1 weight loss drugs - including Wegovy and Ozempic - may not work for everyone in a 'real-world' setting, Cleveland Clinic researchers said Tuesday. The reason is that patients may take lower dosages or discontinue their treatment, negatively impacting the ability to control blood sugar levels in those who are pre-diabetic. The findings may have implications for people considering using the drugs, that are taken by more than eight million Americans every year. They've offered an alternative to traditional and taxing weight loss methods, such as diets and fitness. 'Our study shows that patients treated for obesity with semaglutide or trizepatide lost less weight on average in a regular clinical setting compared to what is observed in randomized clinical trials,' Dr. Hamlet Gasoyan, a researcher with Cleveland Clinic, said in a statement. 'According to our data, this could be explained by higher rates of discontinuation and lower maintenance dosages used in clinical practice, compared to randomized clinical trial settings.' Gasoyan was the lead author of the study published on Tuesday in the Obesity Journal. 'Semaglutide has been extensively examined in robust clinical development programs, large real-world-evidence studies and has cumulatively over 33 million patient years of exposure,' a Novo Nordisk spokesperson told The Independent. 'Semaglutide's efficacy and safety have been extensively demonstrated in people with obesity/overweight with robust evidence for improving health outcomes. Semaglutide has demonstrated improvements in cardiovascular death, stroke, and myocardial infarction.' A request for comment from Eli Lilly was not immediately returned to The Independent. The study focuses on drugs with the active ingredients semaglutide and tirzepatide; they include the U.S. Food and Drug-administration approved type 2 diabetes medications Zepbound and Mounjaro. The authors studied their effects on weight loss and blood sugar regulation in a real-world setting. They noted that previous randomized clinical trials have shown the efficacy of those medications. The authors monitored the health of nearly 7,900 adults who were severely obese. Of those, more than 1,300 had pre-diabetes at the study's start and were at a higher risk for developing type 2 diabetes: a chronic condition that affects a person's ability to use insulin and keep blood sugar at normal levels. Participants took the shots between 2021 and 2023. The researchers sorted patients who discontinued their obesity medications into two groups: those who did it within just three months and by three months to a year. The study's follow-up period ended last December. The most common reasoning for discontinuation of treatment in the real-world setting was due to the steep cost of the drugs and insurance, side effects and shortages. Notably, since the study's, prices have started to fall. Of the participants, more than 20 percent discontinued their medications early and 32 percent discontinued their medications late. Furthermore, the authors noted than more than 80 percent had been on the lower dosages needed to sustain a therapeutic effect. For semaglutide, that's equal to or less than 1 milligram and equal to or less than 7.5 milligrams for tirzepatide. Following a year of treatment, the average weight reduction was 3.6 percent among participants who discontinued their treatment early, compared to 6.8 percent for those who discontinued their treatment late. But, those who did not discontinue treatment and were on the highest dosages necessary lost the most weight, at up to 13.7 percent with semaglutide and 18 percent with tirzepatide. Participants had higher odds of achieving 10 percent or greater weight reduction after one year of treatment if they did not discontinue their medications or did so late, were on the highest dosages needed for a therapeutic effect, received tirzepatide, and were women. Tracking the maintenance of blood sugar levels in those with pre-diabetes, the researchers said just a third of those who discontinued their treatment early experienced normal blood sugar levels compared to 41 percent who discontinued their treatment late and 67.9 percent who did not discontinue treatment. Lastly, the researchers observed that while patients who discontinued obesity medications lost significantly less weight compared to those who did not, their weight trajectories remained relatively stable. They said that would be the subject of additional research. 'Our findings about the real-world use patterns of these medications and associated clinical outcomes could inform the decisions of healthcare providers and their patients on the role of treatment discontinuation and maintenance dosage in achieving clinically meaningful weight reductions,' explained Gasoyan.
Scottish Sun
19 hours ago
- Health
- Scottish Sun
‘Game changing' fat jabs WON'T help you lose as much weight as you think, scientists discover
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) SO-CALLED 'miracle' weight-loss jabs are far less effective in the real world than in clinical trials, a major study has revealed. The new findings could have big implications for Brits considering the injections, which have soared in popularity across the UK in recent years. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 In a 'real-world' setting people might lose less weight in a regular clinical setting than during clinical trials Credit: Alamy 2 The drugs work best when people stick to them and take the full recommended dose Credit: Reuters Until now, the jabs have been hailed as an easier alternative to classic weight loss methods like calorie counting, weight watchers and the gym. But researchers at the Cleveland Clinic in the US found average weight loss on the jabs in the 'real world' is just 6.9 per cent after a year. This is less than half the amount typically seen in clinical trials, where patients often lose 15 per cent with semaglutide, the ingredient in Wegovy, and up to 22.5 per cent with tirzepatide, found in Mounjaro. The study, published on Tuesday in Obesity, followed 7,881 adults with severe obesity who started semaglutide or tirzepatide between 2021 and 2023. It discovered the drugs worked best when people stuck to them and took the full recommended dose, but in the real world, that rarely happened. More than one in five patients (21 per cent) stopped taking the jabs within the first three months, and another 32 per cent quit between three and 12 months. Meanwhile, over 80 per cent were on lower-than-recommended maintenance doses, needed to keep the weight off. Those who quit early lost just 3.6 per cent of their body weight. Patients who stayed on the treatment for a full year lost 11.9 per cent on average. The best results were seen in people who stayed on full doses, who lost 13.7 per cent with semaglutide and 18 per cent with tirzepatide. GP-approved tips to really lose weight safely - and keep it off 'Our findings could inform the decisions of healthcare providers and their patients on the role of treatment discontinuation and maintenance dosage in achieving clinically meaningful weight reductions," Dr Hamlet Gasoyan, lead author of the study, said. Among the 1,320 people with prediabetes, the precursor to type 2 diabetes, at the start of the study, those who stayed on the jabs were also far more likely to reverse the condition. Don't stop the drugs early These medications work by copying a natural hormone found in the body called GLP-1. This hormone helps people feel fuller for longer, which reduces appetite and helps with weight loss. It also helps control blood sugar by telling the pancreas to make more insulin and slowing down how quickly sugar from food gets into the bloodstream. That's why these drugs are effective at both preventing type 2 diabetes and helping people shed pounds. Just 33 per cent of early quitters returned to normal blood sugar levels, compared with 68 per cent of those who stayed on the medication. 'Type 2 diabetes is one of the most common complications of obesity, so diabetes prevention is very important,' Dr Gasoyan said. 'This study highlights that treatment discontinuation, especially early, negatively affects both weight and glycemic control outcomes.' The most common reasons for stopping the jabs were cost, insurance issues, side effects and shortages, it said, The experts said a follow-up study is planned to dig deeper into why patients quit, and what happens to their weight afterwards.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Study: Real-world results of GLP-1 drugs don't match trials
Real-world results for blockbuster weight-loss meds like Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound aren't as impressive as those promised by the drugs' clinical trials, a new study says. People taking such GLP-1 drugs lost just under 9% of their body weight on average after a year, researchers reported Tuesday in the journal Obesity. That's far less than the 15% to 21% body weight reduction promised by the clinical trials that led to the approval of Wegovy (semaglutide) and Zepbound (tirzepatide) for weight loss, researchers said. "Patients treated for obesity with semaglutide or trizepatide lost less weight on average in a regular clinical setting compared to what is observed in randomized clinical trial," lead investigator Hamlet Gasoyan said in a news release. He is a researcher at the Cleveland Clinic Center for Value-Based Care Research. People taking the drugs in real-world settings appear to be more likely to quit taking the meds, researchers said. They also might be prescribed lower dosages in clinical practice than were used in the drug trials. Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) drugs mimic the GLP-1 hormone, which helps control insulin and blood sugar levels, decreases appetite and slows digestion of food. For this study, researchers tracked nearly 7,900 patients being treated by the Cleveland Clinic for severe obesity, of whom about 6,100 were prescribed semaglutide and the rest tirzepatide. Average body weight loss after a year was nearly 9% for the whole group, results show. But weight loss varied based on when a person stopped taking the drugs, researchers found. Average weight loss was under 4% for those who stopped treatment early, versus nearly 7% or those who stopped later on, the study says. Those who stayed on their medications lost an average 12% body weight. Results also show that more than 4 in 5 (81%) of patients were prescribed a low maintenance dose of their GLP-1 drug, and that made a difference as well. People who stayed on their meds and received high doses lost nearly 14% of their body weight with semaglutide and 18% with tirzepatide. "Our findings about the real-world use patterns of these medications and associated clinical outcomes could inform the decisions of health care providers and their patients on the role of treatment discontinuation and maintenance dosage in achieving clinically meaningful weight reductions," Gasoyan said. Overall, patients had higher odds of losing 10% or more of their body weight after a year if they remained on their meds, were prescribed a high dosage, were taking tirzepatide rather than semaglutide, and were female, results show. The cost of the drugs and problems were insurance were a common reason for patients stopping GLP-1 treatment, along with side effects and medication shortages, researchers said. Staying on the GLP-1 meds particularly helped the nearly 17% of patients who had prediabetes, a condition in which elevated blood sugar levels increase a person's risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. About 68% of those who stuck with their treatment wound up with normal blood sugar levels, compared with 41% who stopped taking the drugs later in the study and 33% who stopped earlier. "Type 2 diabetes is one of the most common complications of obesity, so diabetes prevention is very important," Gasoyan said. "This study highlights that treatment discontinuation, especially early, negatively affects both weight and glycemic control outcomes." A follow-up study is in the works to better track why patients stop taking their GLP-1 drugs, researchers said. More information Harvard Medical School has more on GLP-1 drugs. Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Study: Real-world results of GLP-1 drugs don't match trials
Real-world results for blockbuster weight-loss meds like Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound aren't as impressive as those promised by the drugs' clinical trials, a new study says. People taking such GLP-1 drugs lost just under 9% of their body weight on average after a year, researchers reported Tuesday in the journal Obesity. That's far less than the 15% to 21% body weight reduction promised by the clinical trials that led to the approval of Wegovy (semaglutide) and Zepbound (tirzepatide) for weight loss, researchers said. "Patients treated for obesity with semaglutide or trizepatide lost less weight on average in a regular clinical setting compared to what is observed in randomized clinical trial," lead investigator Hamlet Gasoyan said in a news release. He is a researcher at the Cleveland Clinic Center for Value-Based Care Research. People taking the drugs in real-world settings appear to be more likely to quit taking the meds, researchers said. They also might be prescribed lower dosages in clinical practice than were used in the drug trials. Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) drugs mimic the GLP-1 hormone, which helps control insulin and blood sugar levels, decreases appetite and slows digestion of food. For this study, researchers tracked nearly 7,900 patients being treated by the Cleveland Clinic for severe obesity, of whom about 6,100 were prescribed semaglutide and the rest tirzepatide. Average body weight loss after a year was nearly 9% for the whole group, results show. But weight loss varied based on when a person stopped taking the drugs, researchers found. Average weight loss was under 4% for those who stopped treatment early, versus nearly 7% or those who stopped later on, the study says. Those who stayed on their medications lost an average 12% body weight. Results also show that more than 4 in 5 (81%) of patients were prescribed a low maintenance dose of their GLP-1 drug, and that made a difference as well. People who stayed on their meds and received high doses lost nearly 14% of their body weight with semaglutide and 18% with tirzepatide. "Our findings about the real-world use patterns of these medications and associated clinical outcomes could inform the decisions of health care providers and their patients on the role of treatment discontinuation and maintenance dosage in achieving clinically meaningful weight reductions," Gasoyan said. Overall, patients had higher odds of losing 10% or more of their body weight after a year if they remained on their meds, were prescribed a high dosage, were taking tirzepatide rather than semaglutide, and were female, results show. The cost of the drugs and problems were insurance were a common reason for patients stopping GLP-1 treatment, along with side effects and medication shortages, researchers said. Staying on the GLP-1 meds particularly helped the nearly 17% of patients who had prediabetes, a condition in which elevated blood sugar levels increase a person's risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. About 68% of those who stuck with their treatment wound up with normal blood sugar levels, compared with 41% who stopped taking the drugs later in the study and 33% who stopped earlier. "Type 2 diabetes is one of the most common complications of obesity, so diabetes prevention is very important," Gasoyan said. "This study highlights that treatment discontinuation, especially early, negatively affects both weight and glycemic control outcomes." A follow-up study is in the works to better track why patients stop taking their GLP-1 drugs, researchers said. More information Harvard Medical School has more on GLP-1 drugs. Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
