Research
Hormonal
Liraglutide (3.0 mg) produces significant weight loss (-5.4% placebo-subtracted) and improves cardiovascular risk factors, but has a high discontinuation rate due to gastrointestinal side effects.
Liraglutide is a daily injection that helps lose about 5% more weight than placebo and improves heart health markers. However, it often causes nausea and vomiting, leading many patients to stop taking it.
GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
Data from most recent meta-analyses showed that the overall placebo-subtracted weight reduction (%) with the use of anti-obesity drugs for at least 12 months ranges from 2.9% to 6.8%; ... liraglutide (-5.4%)
Why this rating
Based on RCTs (SCALE series).
Source
Anti-Obesity Drugs: Long-Term Efficacy and Safety: An Updated Review
Young Jin Tak et al. · The World Journal of Men s Health · 2020
DOI 10.5534/wjmh.200010
narrative_reviewCited 174×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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- Anti-obesity drugs (phentermine/topiramate, liraglutide, naltrexone/bupropion, lorcaserin, orlistat) produce clinically significant weight loss (2.9% to 6.8% placebo-subtracted) over 12+ months, but require careful risk-benefit assessment due to adverse effects and high cost.Good
- Phentermine/topiramate ER produces the highest placebo-subtracted weight loss (6.8%) among approved anti-obesity drugs, with significant improvements in cardiovascular risk factors.Good
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