The Daily Mail Reports: Long-Term Use of Ozempic and Similar Drugs May Be Necessary for Sustained Weight Loss
A recent study has highlighted the challenges of maintaining weight loss after stopping popular weight-loss medications like Ozempic. According to The Daily Mail, a man who lost five stone in a year using liraglutide, a drug similar to Ozempic, regained half of the weight he lost within six months of stopping the medication.
John Kane, 76, from Dublin, had been struggling with his weight for some time, weighing nearly 19 stone before he began taking liraglutide in 2016. The medication, which works by triggering the release of the hormone GLP-1 that makes us feel full, helped him lose a significant amount of weight, bringing his weight down to under 14 stone within a year. As The Daily Mail reports, Mr. Kane’s weight loss was not limited to his physical appearance; he also noticed significant improvements in his overall health, including getting his type 2 diabetes into remission and enjoying active social excursions that he couldn’t before, including hikes in Spain.
However, when Mr. Kane stopped taking the injections in 2018 due to the high cost of £232 a month, his raging appetite returned, and he began to regain weight. Within six months, he had regained half of the weight he had lost, which had a significant impact on his mental health. "I had really put a lot of effort into the last two years, and was determined not to put back on the weight," he told The Daily Mail. "But whether I liked it or not, even watching my food, the weight just started to creep back up."
The experience of Mr. Kane is not unique. According to The Daily Mail, a study published in the journal Epic Research found that 44% of people who lost at least five pounds using semaglutide, the generic name for Ozempic, and then stopped the drug regained at least 25% of their lost weight within a year. Dr. Emma Cunningham, an aesthetics expert who treats patients suffering from cosmetic complications of Ozempic, told The Daily Mail that some patients choose to go on a maintenance dose and wean off the drug that way.
"You can’t be solely reliant on the drug," she said. "You need to be using this as an opportunity to address your lifestyle. Our most successful patients will have really gotten on board with healthy eating and exercise." The Daily Mail reports that scientists at Oxford University have also discovered that the effects of GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy are short-lived if patients do not maintain a healthy lifestyle afterwards.
In fact, The Daily Mail notes that even those taking newer, more powerful jabs like Mounjaro put their weight back on once treatment was removed. "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 researcher Professor Susan Jebb. As reported by The Daily Mail, US researchers at Cornell University in New York found that those on the injections typically lost around 13.7% of their body weight, on average, over a 72-week period.
Mr. Kane has now been taking semaglutide, better known as Ozempic, for nearly eight years, using a maintenance dose of 1mg a week. He has no plans to stop again, telling The Daily Mail that if he were to ever come off the medication, he would become a "very sad, dejected, depressed person." The Daily Mail reports that Ozempic and similar drugs have burst onto the scene in recent years, hailed as a potential fix for the UK’s spiraling obesity crisis.
As The Daily Mail notes, semaglutide mimics glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), a naturally occurring hormone released in the small intestine when you eat. It tells your brain you’re full and slows digestion. After years of rigorous scientific trials, semaglutide has been chemically modified to last far longer than the body’s own, short-lived supply of GLP-1. As a result, it keeps people feeling fuller for longer. With its potential benefits and risks, The Daily Mail continues to provide updates on Ozempic and similar medications, helping readers make informed decisions about their health.
