Hormonal
Long-term use of FDA/Health Canada-approved obesity pharmacotherapies (semaglutide, tirzepatide, liraglutide, naltrexone-bupropion, orlistat) combined with health behavior changes produces clinically meaningful weight loss and prevents weight regain upon discontinuation.
If you have obesity (BMI ≥ 30, or ≥ 27 with health issues), talk to your doctor about FDA/Health Canada-approved weight loss medications like semaglutide or tirzepatide. These work best when combined with diet and exercise changes. Crucially, these are long-term treatments; stopping them usually leads to regaining the weight, so view them as a permanent tool for managing your health, not a quick fix.
Pharmacotherapy for obesity management, in conjunction with health behaviour changes, should be offered to people with BMI ≥ 30, or BMI ≥ 27 with adiposity-related complications... Pharmacotherapy for obesity management, in conjunction with health behaviour changes, should be used long term, when effective, to: Avoid weight regain and regression of health benefits achieved with pharmacotherapy... Obesity medications are intended as part of a long-term treatment strategy.
Why this rating
Based on Level 1a evidence from large multinational RCTs (e.g., SELECT, SURMOUNT trials).
Source
Pharmacotherapy for obesity management in adults: 2025 clinical practice guideline update
Sue D. Pedersen et al. · Canadian Medical Association Journal · 2025
DOI 10.1503/cmaj.250502
More from this paper
- Obesity pharmacotherapy is recommended against for compounded medications or unapproved medications due to safety and efficacy concerns.Good
- Tirzepatide (5-15 mg weekly) produces superior weight loss compared to semaglutide and placebo in adults with obesity, with dose-dependent efficacy.Weak
- Obesity pharmacotherapy reduces the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in patients with established atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and BMI ≥ 27, independent of diabetes status.Weak
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
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