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Business Standard
19-05-2025
- Health
- Business Standard
What happens to your weight after stopping Ozempic, Wegovy or Mounjaro?
By now, we all have heard of the so-called 'miracle' weight loss jabs such as Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro. Maybe you've even seen the jaw-dropping before-and-after photos circulating online. These GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) medications, originally approved for type 2 diabetes, are the latest buzz in the world of weight management, promising major results for people struggling with obesity or stubborn weight gain. But what happens after the injections stop? Do the results last? GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, Mounjaro and Wegovy help—but for how long? A new study presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Spain suggests something many people might find disheartening: most individuals regain all the weight they lost within a year of stopping these drugs, according to a report by The Guardian. Even with powerful medications like semaglutide (sold as Ozempic, Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound), the benefits may be temporary unless paired with long-term support and behavioural change. Studies have also shown that weight-loss drugs like Ozempic can also help prevent cancer. Click here to know more. New study: Weight returns within a year of stopping GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy or Mounjar According to The Guardian report, researchers led by the University of Oxford reviewed 11 studies involving GLP-1 medications like semaglutide and tirzepatide. These drugs helped people lose significant weight while they were on them. On average, participants lost around 8–16 kg using these medications. But once they stopped, most regained nearly all of the lost weight within 10–12 months. That raises serious concerns about the long-term utility of these drugs unless they are used with sustained support. Why does weight return faster than after dieting? It's about what happens behind the scenes in your body. 'These drugs are very effective at helping you lose weight, but when you stop them, weight regain is much faster than [after stopping] diets,' said Professor Susan Jebb, study co-author and professor of diet and population health at the University of Oxford. When the medication stops, hunger returns—but habits may not have changed. It's like using crutches without learning to walk. Notably, people who lost weight through dieting alone also regained it, but over a longer span of about five years—versus just one year for GLP-1 drug users. Lifestyle changes are key to long-term weight management Tam Fry of the National Obesity Forum cautioned that these drugs are not magic bullets. 'It shouldn't surprise anyone that weight comes back if people don't improve their lifestyle alongside,' he said. Health psychologists like Professor Jane Ogden have also stressed the need for emotional and behavioural support during and after treatment. Without that, most users face rebound weight gain. Experts now suggest that GLP-1 weight loss drugs may need to be taken long-term, like insulin or statins. Can people afford to stay on these drugs long-term? For many, the answer is no. Cost remains a significant barrier for continued use of Wegovy, Ozempic, or Mounjaro. GLP-1 weight loss drugs available in India: Tirzepatide (Mounjaro) – Eli Lilly Weekly injection for type 2 diabetes Cost: ₹3,500 (2.5 mg), ₹4,375 (5 mg) Semaglutide (Wegovy) – Novo Nordisk Weekly injection (yet to launch in India) Expected cost: ₹8,000–₹14,000/month Semaglutide (Rybelsus) – Novo Nordisk Daily oral medication Cost: ₹12,000–₹13,000/month Mounjaro was launched in the country earlier this year. Here is what you must know about it. What is a more sustainable way to lose weight? Weight loss medications can help, but they're not the full solution. Experts emphasise that sustainable weight loss requires: Healthy eating habits Regular physical activity Stress and hormone management Adequate sleep Mental health support and behaviour change Planning to start—or stop—GLP-1 weight loss drugs? If you're considering GLP-1 medications or are about to discontinue them, here are expert-backed tips: Pair the medication with lifestyle and dietary changes Work with your doctor to plan for long-term use or tapering off Engage in counselling or coaching to support behaviour change Focus on building habits during treatment to maintain weight loss later Medications start the journey—but lifestyle keeps the weight off
Business Mayor
17-05-2025
- Health
- Business Mayor
How weight-loss wonder drugs are redefining the way our bodies work
Obesity was once medicine's Cinderella subject with some questioning whether the condition should even be viewed as a biological disorder. But the arrival of a new class of appetite-suppressing drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy has transformed obesity treatment into the most scientifically exciting and commercially lucrative area of healthcare. These drugs lead to dramatic weight loss, are shifting perceptions and, according to a series of results announced at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO) in Málaga this week, promise health benefits that extend far beyond weight management. 'It's been an extraordinary week,' said Prof Susan Jebb, a public health nutrition scientist at the University of Oxford, who has been researching obesity treatments since the 1980s and who presented the findings at the ECO meeting. 'Obesity has been [in the background] for so long and it's been such a slog,' she added. 'These drugs have energised the field and it has happened so fast.' Gamechanger for more than just obesity First developed to help lower blood sugar levels as a diabetes treatment, it was quickly apparent that Novo Nordisk's drug semaglutide (the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy jabs) has a dramatic effect on weight. The drug works by mimicking a hormone, GLP-1, which is released in the gut when we eat and acts on receptors around the body, including the brain. Eli Lilly's rival product, Mounjaro, contains the active ingredient tirzepatide. This emulates GLP-1 as well as a second hormone producing even more impressive results, according to the first head-to-head trial reported this week in which participants lost an average of 20% of their body weight after 72 weeks of treatment. The benefits of being at a healthy weight are substantial, with one study published in January suggesting weight-loss jabs could reduce the risk of 42 diseases including heart disease, cancer, clotting disorders, Alzheimer's, chronic kidney disease, addiction and a range of psychiatric conditions. There is early evidence that these benefits go beyond what might be expected due to the drugs' metabolic effects. Trials have shown weight-loss jabs can reduce the risk of the onset of 42 conditions, among them cancer and cardiovascular disease. Photograph: Barry Diomede/Alamy 'We absolutely know that almost every aspect of health is better if you're a healthy weight,' said Jebb. 'What we haven't really nailed is whether those effects are independent of weight. There may be weight independent effects. My reading is that the jury is still out.' Others are already convinced. Results from a phase 3 trial of semaglutide in patients with fatty liver disease (medically known as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis or MASH) found the drug could halt and even reverse the condition, which affects one in five UK adults. Most participants in the trial were obese or had diabetes, but the data revealed benefits to the liver even in those who experienced little or no weight loss. 'We were able to demonstrate that there's a weight loss contribution but that there's a contribution that's weight independent,' said Prof Philip Newsome, of King's College London, who presented the findings in Málaga this week. 'That's quite interesting and exciting.' Another trial found weight-loss jabs could almost halve the risk of obesity-related cancers, with the effects larger than would be expected from weight loss alone. And two studies suggested that the drugs may have mental health benefits. 'Clearly if your weight improves there will be a benefit to emotional wellbeing, your self-worth, self-confidence and energy levels,' said Dr Toby Pillinger, a psychiatrist and lecturer at King's, who authored one of the studies. But given that the drugs also appear to act on the brain's reward system, more direct neurological effects are also plausible. 'They've been likened to the Swiss army knife of medicines,' Pillinger said. 'We are only starting to understand their effects around the body. None more so than in the changes in how our brain is functioning.' Within a few years, the drugs have transformed the landscape of metabolic medicine. Pillinger sees a similar revolution on the horizon for psychiatry, suggesting that addiction, binge-eating disorders and schizophrenia are obvious targets for future trials. What happens when you come off the drugs? The problem with diets, notoriously, is that once a person stops dieting they often regain weight. For GLP-targeting drugs, the data is patchy because pharmaceutical companies typically stop tracking people once they stop taking the medicine. Jebb and colleagues are among the first to trace this trajectory . They found rapid weight loss was followed by a rapid rebound. When people stopped taking semaglutide they regained all the weight lost within 10 months – far quicker than for behavioural interventions. 'We've got to face up to what happens when people stop taking these drugs,' said Jebb. The drug works by mimicking a hormone, GLP-1, which is released in the gut when we eat and acts on receptors around the body, including the brain. Photograph: Image Source/Alamy Another obesity expert, Prof Alexander Miras, at Ulster University, said: 'No one has actually given us specific numbers as to how many people this happens in, but we are estimating it to be around 95%.' Dr Martin Whyte, a consultant in diabetes at King's College Hospital NHS trust, said it was a phenomenon he cautioned patients about. 'I haven't seen a single person who got down to a weight on GLP-1 drug, stopped it, and their weight stayed exactly the same coming off the drug,' he said. The findings do not undermine the efficacy of the drugs, experts say, but they need to be carefully considered by those paying for them and by patients considering their treatment options. 'We need to face up to the costs of lifelong treatment – and these drugs are expensive,' said Jebb. 'When we come to private prescriptions – and right now in the UK most people are doing this privately – people need to understand there are high risks of regaining the weight very fast when you stop. We've got to give people the facts.' It is an experience familiar to Anita*, 41, who is a consultant from Cambridge. She started on Mounjaro in April 2024 and continued taking the medication until December, falling from 87kg (13.7st) to 70kg. 'Food has always been front and centre for me,' she said. 'But when I was taking Mounjaro, my appetite was absolutely different. It was almost to the point where I couldn't believe how much it had changed. I thought: 'Oh, this is what normal people must feel like when they're just not wanting to eat all the time.'' Just before Christmas 2024, Anita came off the jabs as the £225 monthly cost was proving too expensive. Three weeks into January her cravings and appetite returned. She put 7kg back on within two months. 'My appetite came back as unstoppable as before,' she said. 'I could not help eating junk. I craved chocolate and cheese, which was exactly what I felt before I started the jabs. It was like I had never been on them.' Anita decided to go back on Mounjaro and started on the jabs six weeks ago. This time she shopped around and now pays £150 a month. 'I feel like if I can afford it I'll probably keep on it as maintenance. If you have a drug that will help you achieve what you need, has low side effects, and it works well and is safe, why not use it?' she said. Mounjaro also emulates GLP-1 as well as a second hormone producing even more impressive results. Photograph: George Frey/Reuters Experts say rather than being an acute treatment, as would be used for something like an infection, these weight-loss medications should be viewed as a treatment for a chronic condition – similar to the way statins are used. 'If you have somebody on a statin for their cholesterol, and you stop statin, almost inevitably the cholesterol rises,' said Whyte. 'If you have somebody on the blood pressure tablet, you stop the tablet, almost inevitably the blood pressure rises. So it's not dissimilar from that.' Yet questions remain, including why a fraction of patients do not regain weight when they stop the medications. 'No one knows who these people are, and they don't know what makes them different,' said Miras, though he added that there were two main theories. The first was that such patients might have gained weight due to particular life events such as a pregnancy or a stressful period – meaning that when the event resolved, so too did the weight gain. Another possibility, said Miras, was that a genetically predetermined 'set point' for body weight had a broader range for some people than others, meaning their body did not resist efforts to deviate from this weight as strongly as for other people. Whyte said research was now looking at how to minimise weight-regain, noting that as well as maintaining muscle mass and making lifestyle changes, research suggested tapering down doses might help. As patients are tracked for longer and in real-world settings, it is also clear that these drugs are not the solution for everyone. Some find the side-effects unpleasant, miss enjoyment of food or simply don't want to continually take medication and, while they have been found to be effective in early trials in children, some question whether this is the right approach so early in life. With the medications known to reduce muscle mass, Whyte said an important question was whether this went beyond what would be expected from weight loss alone. Yet with GLP-1 drugs having been used for diabetes for almost 20 years, Whyte said the data suggested overall the medications were safe. 'There was an initial concern [about], maybe it could lead to higher risk of pancreatitis or even pancreatic cancer or thyroid [cancer]. That has not been borne out in any of the follow-up data,' he said. 'Treatment revolution that will only get better' Critics of weight-loss drugs tend to view them as medicalising a problem that would be better solved by policies to tackle the underlying causes of the obesity crisis. But, according to Prof Naveed Sattar, of the University of Glasgow, there is no sign of high-calorie foods becoming less ubiquitous. And where successive policies have failed to make a sufficient impact, he argues the drugs themselves may provide a fresh incentive for a change in the food market. 'When Eli Lilly first reported their results, the share prices of some fast-food places dipped,' said Sattar. 'Ultimately it might reverse-engineer things towards a better food environment.' Weight-loss drugs now dominate the conversation around obesity. But their success may also drive medical interest in alternative pathways for treatment. 'What the success of these drugs absolutely demonstrates is that obesity is a biological phenomenon,' said Jebb. 'Some people have a genetic susceptibility that makes it a struggle to manage their appetites, which is made incredibly hard in a world where food is everywhere.' 'Part of what I hope these drugs do is reframe medical attitudes around obesity. It's easier to engage doctors in talking about drug treatments but I hope it will draw them into talking about other options as well.' Miras was also enthusiastic. 'When you don't understand the disease, it is almost automatic in medicine that we start blaming the patient because we feel uncomfortable,' he said. 'Now we have understood the disease, not completely but much better. And now, as a result, there is a revolution in the treatment of obesity and that will only get better.'
The Guardian
17-05-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
How weight-loss wonder drugs are redefining the way our bodies work
Obesity was once medicine's Cinderella subject with some questioning whether the condition should even be viewed as a biological disorder. But the arrival of a new class of appetite-suppressing drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy has transformed obesity treatment into the most scientifically exciting and commercially lucrative area of healthcare. These drugs lead to dramatic weight loss, are shifting perceptions and, according to a series of results announced at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO) in Málaga this week, promise health benefits that extend far beyond weight management. 'It's been an extraordinary week,' said Prof Susan Jebb, a public health nutrition scientist at the University of Oxford, who has been researching obesity treatments since the 1980s and who presented the findings at the ECO meeting. 'Obesity has been [in the background] for so long and it's been such a slog,' she added. 'These drugs have energised the field and it has happened so fast.' First developed to help lower blood sugar levels as a diabetes treatment, it was quickly apparent that Novo Nordisk's drug semaglutide (the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy jabs) has a dramatic effect on weight. The drug works by mimicking a hormone, GLP-1, which is released in the gut when we eat and acts on receptors around the body, including the brain. Eli Lilly's rival product, Mounjaro, contains the active ingredient tirzepatide. This emulates GLP-1 as well as a second hormone producing even more impressive results, according to the first head-to-head trial reported this week in which participants lost an average of 20% of their body weight after 72 weeks of treatment. The benefits of being at a healthy weight are substantial, with one study published in January suggesting weight-loss jabs could reduce the risk of 42 diseases including heart disease, cancer, clotting disorders, Alzheimer's, chronic kidney disease, addiction and a range of psychiatric conditions. There is early evidence that these benefits go beyond what might be expected due to the drugs' metabolic effects. 'We absolutely know that almost every aspect of health is better if you're a healthy weight,' said Jebb. 'What we haven't really nailed is whether those effects are independent of weight. There may be weight independent effects. My reading is that the jury is still out.' Others are already convinced. Results from a phase 3 trial of semaglutide in patients with fatty liver disease (medically known as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis or MASH) found the drug could halt and even reverse the condition, which affects one in five UK adults. Most participants in the trial were obese or had diabetes, but the data revealed benefits to the liver even in those who experienced little or no weight loss. 'We were able to demonstrate that there's a weight loss contribution but that there's a contribution that's weight independent,' said Prof Philip Newsome, of King's College London, who presented the findings in Málaga this week. 'That's quite interesting and exciting.' Another trial found weight-loss jabs could almost halve the risk of obesity-related cancers, with the effects larger than would be expected from weight loss alone. And two studies suggested that the drugs may have mental health benefits. 'Clearly if your weight improves there will be a benefit to emotional wellbeing, your self-worth, self-confidence and energy levels,' said Dr Toby Pillinger, a psychiatrist and lecturer at King's, who authored one of the studies. But given that the drugs also appear to act on the brain's reward system, more direct neurological effects are also plausible. 'They've been likened to the Swiss army knife of medicines,' Pillinger said. 'We are only starting to understand their effects around the body. None more so than in the changes in how our brain is functioning.' Within a few years, the drugs have transformed the landscape of metabolic medicine. Pillinger sees a similar revolution on the horizon for psychiatry, suggesting that addiction, binge-eating disorders and schizophrenia are obvious targets for future trials. The problem with diets, notoriously, is that once a person stops dieting they often regain weight. For GLP-targeting drugs, the data is patchy because pharmaceutical companies typically stop tracking people once they stop taking the medicine. Jebb and colleagues are among the first to trace this trajectory . They found rapid weight loss was followed by a rapid rebound. When people stopped taking semaglutide they regained all the weight lost within 10 months – far quicker than for behavioural interventions. 'We've got to face up to what happens when people stop taking these drugs,' said Jebb. Another obesity expert, Prof Alexander Miras, at Ulster University, said: 'No one has actually given us specific numbers as to how many people this happens in, but we are estimating it to be around 95%.' Dr Martin Whyte, a consultant in diabetes at King's College Hospital NHS trust, said it was a phenomenon he cautioned patients about. 'I haven't seen a single person who got down to a weight on GLP-1 drug, stopped it, and their weight stayed exactly the same coming off the drug,' he said. The findings do not undermine the efficacy of the drugs, experts say, but they need to be carefully considered by those paying for them and by patients considering their treatment options. 'We need to face up to the costs of lifelong treatment – and these drugs are expensive,' said Jebb. 'When we come to private prescriptions – and right now in the UK most people are doing this privately – people need to understand there are high risks of regaining the weight very fast when you stop. We've got to give people the facts.' It is an experience familiar to Anita*, 41, who is a consultant from Cambridge. She started on Mounjaro in April 2024 and continued taking the medication until December, falling from 87kg (13.7st) to 70kg. 'Food has always been front and centre for me,' she said. 'But when I was taking Mounjaro, my appetite was absolutely different. It was almost to the point where I couldn't believe how much it had changed. I thought: 'Oh, this is what normal people must feel like when they're just not wanting to eat all the time.'' Just before Christmas 2024, Anita came off the jabs as the £225 monthly cost was proving too expensive. Three weeks into January her cravings and appetite returned. She put 7kg back on within two months. 'My appetite came back as unstoppable as before,' she said. 'I could not help eating junk. I craved chocolate and cheese, which was exactly what I felt before I started the jabs. It was like I had never been on them.' Anita decided to go back on Mounjaro and started on the jabs six weeks ago. This time she shopped around and now pays £150 a month. 'I feel like if I can afford it I'll probably keep on it as maintenance. If you have a drug that will help you achieve what you need, has low side effects, and it works well and is safe, why not use it?' she said. Experts say rather than being an acute treatment, as would be used for something like an infection, these weight-loss medications should be viewed as a treatment for a chronic condition – similar to the way statins are used. 'If you have somebody on a statin for their cholesterol, and you stop statin, almost inevitably the cholesterol rises,' said Whyte. 'If you have somebody on the blood pressure tablet, you stop the tablet, almost inevitably the blood pressure rises. So it's not dissimilar from that.' Yet questions remain, including why a fraction of patients do not regain weight when they stop the medications. 'No one knows who these people are, and they don't know what makes them different,' said Miras, though he added that there were two main theories. The first was that such patients might have gained weight due to particular life events such as a pregnancy or a stressful period – meaning that when the event resolved, so too did the weight gain. Another possibility, said Miras, was that a genetically predetermined 'set point' for body weight had a broader range for some people than others, meaning their body did not resist efforts to deviate from this weight as strongly as for other people. Whyte said research was now looking at how to minimise weight-regain, noting that as well as maintaining muscle mass and making lifestyle changes, research suggested tapering down doses might help. As patients are tracked for longer and in real-world settings, it is also clear that these drugs are not the solution for everyone. Some find the side-effects unpleasant, miss enjoyment of food or simply don't want to continually take medication and, while they have been found to be effective in early trials in children, some question whether this is the right approach so early in life. With the medications known to reduce muscle mass, Whyte said an important question was whether this went beyond what would be expected from weight loss alone. Yet with GLP-1 drugs having been used for diabetes for almost 20 years, Whyte said the data suggested overall the medications were safe. 'There was an initial concern [about], maybe it could lead to higher risk of pancreatitis or even pancreatic cancer or thyroid [cancer]. That has not been borne out in any of the follow-up data,' he said. Critics of weight-loss drugs tend to view them as medicalising a problem that would be better solved by policies to tackle the underlying causes of the obesity crisis. But, according to Prof Naveed Sattar, of the University of Glasgow, there is no sign of high-calorie foods becoming less ubiquitous. And where successive policies have failed to make a sufficient impact, he argues the drugs themselves may provide a fresh incentive for a change in the food market. 'When Eli Lilly first reported their results, the share prices of some fast-food places dipped,' said Sattar. 'Ultimately it might reverse-engineer things towards a better food environment.' Weight-loss drugs now dominate the conversation around obesity. But their success may also drive medical interest in alternative pathways for treatment. 'What the success of these drugs absolutely demonstrates is that obesity is a biological phenomenon,' said Jebb. 'Some people have a genetic susceptibility that makes it a struggle to manage their appetites, which is made incredibly hard in a world where food is everywhere.' 'Part of what I hope these drugs do is reframe medical attitudes around obesity. It's easier to engage doctors in talking about drug treatments but I hope it will draw them into talking about other options as well.' Miras was also enthusiastic. 'When you don't understand the disease, it is almost automatic in medicine that we start blaming the patient because we feel uncomfortable,' he said. 'Now we have understood the disease, not completely but much better. And now, as a result, there is a revolution in the treatment of obesity and that will only get better.' *Name has been changed.
Economic Times
16-05-2025
- Health
- Economic Times
Oxford study reveals the shocking truth about life after weight-loss injections. Is the jab really worth it?
Weight-loss injections help shed kilos fast—but what happens after? An Oxford study finds people typically gain all the weight back within 10 months of stopping. With growing popularity and celebrity endorsements, the findings expose a critical gap: without long-term support, the results don't last. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads A Quick Fix with a Fast Return Not a Cure; A Commitment? Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Experts caution that unless paired with behavioural and lifestyle support, the effects of the weight-loss jabs may be temporary Weight Loss or Lifelong Management? For thousands chasing rapid weight loss , injectable drugs have become the magic key—suppressing appetite, shedding kilos, and delivering fast results. But new research from the University of Oxford warns that the fairy tale might come with an unwelcome twist: the weight, once lost, may boomerang back far sooner than at the European Congress on Obesity, the Oxford study reviewed 11 different clinical trials involving over 6,000 adults. It found that users of weight-loss jabs—whether older-generation or the newer, high-dose ones—typically saw an average drop of 8 kilograms. However, within just 10 months of stopping the injections, most returned to their original weight. For those on newer, more potent drugs, the trajectory was no different—only to a report from The Guardian, patients on the latest high-dose medications lost as much as 16 kilograms. But within a year, they regained over 9 kilograms, suggesting a full weight rebound was likely in just under two years. These aren't isolated cases either—the numbers come from large-scale randomized controlled trials and observational studies, marking a serious red flag for healthcare systems and private users findings challenge a widespread perception: that a jab can solve weight issues permanently. Instead, experts caution that unless paired with behavioural and lifestyle support, the effects of the drug may be temporary. Professor Susan Jebb, one of the study's authors, noted that unlike diets, which require sustained willpower, these drugs suppress hunger biologically. So, when the medication stops, so does the effect—without any lasting behavioural change to fall back on.'What we're seeing is that while these drugs are very effective at helping people lose weight, the regain after discontinuation is significantly faster than what we observe after diets,' said Jebb. Her warning poses a tough question for policymakers: should health services invest in expensive weight-loss injections if patients are likely to regain all the weight once treatment ends?The deeper issue lies in how society views weight loss itself. Is it a one-time event, or a continuous process? If weight-loss jabs are to be effective, experts say, they must be part of a longer-term strategy involving sustained behavioural change, not a standalone Halford from the European Association for the Study of Obesity echoed this concern, emphasizing that these medications are 'an adjunct to behavioural change—not a replacement.'As the popularity of injectable weight-loss treatments soars, the Oxford study brings timely and sobering insight: the end of the jab is not the end of the journey. For lasting results, the real work may begin the day the needle stops.
Time of India
16-05-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Oxford study reveals the shocking truth about life after weight-loss injections. Is the jab really worth it?
For thousands chasing rapid weight loss , injectable drugs have become the magic key—suppressing appetite, shedding kilos, and delivering fast results. But new research from the University of Oxford warns that the fairy tale might come with an unwelcome twist: the weight, once lost, may boomerang back far sooner than imagined. A Quick Fix with a Fast Return Presented at the European Congress on Obesity, the Oxford study reviewed 11 different clinical trials involving over 6,000 adults. It found that users of weight-loss jabs—whether older-generation or the newer, high-dose ones—typically saw an average drop of 8 kilograms. However, within just 10 months of stopping the injections, most returned to their original weight. For those on newer, more potent drugs, the trajectory was no different—only steeper. According to a report from The Guardian , patients on the latest high-dose medications lost as much as 16 kilograms. But within a year, they regained over 9 kilograms, suggesting a full weight rebound was likely in just under two years. These aren't isolated cases either—the numbers come from large-scale randomized controlled trials and observational studies, marking a serious red flag for healthcare systems and private users alike. Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Villas For Sale in Dubai Might Surprise You Villas in Dubai | Search Ads Get Info Not a Cure; A Commitment? The findings challenge a widespread perception: that a jab can solve weight issues permanently. Instead, experts caution that unless paired with behavioural and lifestyle support, the effects of the drug may be temporary. Professor Susan Jebb, one of the study's authors, noted that unlike diets, which require sustained willpower, these drugs suppress hunger biologically. So, when the medication stops, so does the effect—without any lasting behavioural change to fall back on. 'What we're seeing is that while these drugs are very effective at helping people lose weight, the regain after discontinuation is significantly faster than what we observe after diets,' said Jebb. Her warning poses a tough question for policymakers: should health services invest in expensive weight-loss injections if patients are likely to regain all the weight once treatment ends? You Might Also Like: 13 kg weight loss in 40 days: How Arnold Schwarzenegger's son Christopher dropped fat by cutting out bread iStock Experts caution that unless paired with behavioural and lifestyle support, the effects of the weight-loss jabs may be temporary Weight Loss or Lifelong Management? The deeper issue lies in how society views weight loss itself. Is it a one-time event, or a continuous process? If weight-loss jabs are to be effective, experts say, they must be part of a longer-term strategy involving sustained behavioural change, not a standalone shortcut. Jason Halford from the European Association for the Study of Obesity echoed this concern, emphasizing that these medications are 'an adjunct to behavioural change—not a replacement.' As the popularity of injectable weight-loss treatments soars, the Oxford study brings timely and sobering insight: the end of the jab is not the end of the journey. For lasting results, the real work may begin the day the needle stops. You Might Also Like: Ozempic or Mounjaro? Karan Johar finally reveals what really helped his 20 kg weight loss. 'Never felt better'
