Research
Hormonal
Discontinuation of anti-obesity medications (AOMs) after weight loss leads to significant weight regain (approx. two-thirds of lost weight) and reversal of cardiometabolic improvements, necessitating long-term treatment.
Obesity is a chronic condition. If you stop taking your medication after losing weight, you will likely regain most of that weight (about two-thirds) and lose the health benefits. Treatment should be viewed as long-term management, similar to blood pressure medication, rather than a short-term fix.
StrongSupportsHIGH confidence
discontinuation of the drug and associated lifestyle intervention led to regain of two-thirds of the lost weight in the ensuing year, with similar reversion in improvements of cardiometabolic variables.
Why this rating
Based on extension trials (SURMOUNT-4, semaglutide extension).
Source
Approach to Obesity Treatment in Primary Care
Susan Z. Yanovski et al. · JAMA Internal Medicine · 2024
DOI 10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.8526
narrative_reviewCited 72×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Highly effective anti-obesity medications (AOMs), specifically nutrient-stimulated hormone-based therapies (NuSH-BTs) like semaglutide and tirzepatide, induce mean weight loss of 15% or more, significantly outperforming lifestyle interventions alone.Strong
- Lifestyle interventions (diet and physical activity) alone result in modest weight loss (2-9%) and are often insufficient for significant health improvements, though they remain a fundamental component of obesity management.Good
Related findings · Hormonal
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- Continued weekly administration of 2.4 mg subcutaneous semaglutide prevents weight regain and promotes further weight loss in adults with overweight or obesity, whereas switching to placebo results in significant weight regain.Strong
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