Research
Hormonal
Optimizing medications by switching from weight-gain-causing drugs (antipsychotics, sulfonylureas, insulin) to weight-neutral or weight-loss agents (aripiprazole, SGLT2i, GLP-1 RA) facilitates weight management.
If you are gaining weight on psychiatric or diabetes medications, ask your doctor about switching. Some drugs cause significant weight gain, while others are weight-neutral or help you lose weight (like SGLT2 inhibitors or GLP-1 agonists). This optimization can support your weight loss efforts without compromising your primary health condition.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
It is often helpful and recommended for healthcare professionals to perform a medication review and assess whether certain medication could be contributing to weight gain; and whether these could be substituted with an alternative medication or discontinued.
Why this rating
Supported by narrative reviews and specific drug trial data cited.
Source
Medical management of obesity
Sheena Gupta et al. · Clinical Medicine · 2023
DOI 10.7861/clinmed.2023-0183
narrative_reviewCited 10×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- GLP-1 receptor agonists (semaglutide, liraglutide) produce significantly greater weight loss than lifestyle modifications alone and are superior to older agents like orlistat and liraglutide (1.8mg).Strong
- Bariatric surgery (specifically Roux-en-Y gastric bypass) provides the greatest long-term weight loss and diabetes remission rates compared to other surgical and non-surgical interventions.Strong
- A daily caloric deficit of at least 600 kcal, achieved through dietary intervention, is the foundational mechanism for sustainable weight loss and can induce type 2 diabetes remission.Good
Related findings · Hormonal
- Initial treatment for type 2 diabetes should be a combination of metformin and either an SGLT-2 inhibitor or a GLP-1 receptor agonist to achieve cardiorenal protection, rather than monotherapy or older agents like sulfonylureas.Strong
- For patients with specific monogenic obesity syndromes (leptin deficiency, POMC/PCSK1/LEPR mutations), targeted pharmacotherapy (recombinant leptin or setmelanotide) is highly effective and should be prioritized, unlike in polygenic obesity.Strong
- 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
This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →