Researchers have published a new study comparing the long-term effectiveness of popular injectable weight-loss medications.
Unless you've been hiding under a rock, you'll be more than aware about the boom in people using GIP and GLP-1 medications - such as Mounjaro, Wegovy and Ozempic - for weight loss reasons.
Originally created as a drug to treat diabetes, they became popular among celebrities before making their way down to us normal folk.
Both Mounjaro (which uses the active ingredient tirzepatide) and Wegovy (active ingredient semaglutide) are currently licensed for weight management on the NHS. Meanwhile, Ozempic, despite its popularity online, can only be prescribed as a treatment for diabetes.
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As more and more people using the medication, doctors, researchers and patients have all found themselves asking the same question: what happens when you stop taking the drug?
Health experts have previously raised concerns about weight regain after a patient finishes their course of the drug, with one study suggesting that weight regain could occur within eight weeks of finishing.
However, new research has now compared semaglutide, tirzepatide and liraglutide (the active ingredient in Saxenda), revealing which of the three saw the most patients keep their weight down.
Published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, the study revealed that Mounjaro allowed patients to keep the weight off the longest.
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Participants using Mounjaro were able to lose an average of 16 percent of their body weight in 12 to 18 months and kept the weight off the longest, at three-and-a-half years.
Meanwhile, patients using Wegovy were able to lose 11 percent of their body weight in 16 months and keep the weight off for two years, as for Saxenda, patients lost five percent of their body weight.
All three of the drugs performed better than the placebos.
Researchers also found the drugs all performed roughly the same when it came to impacting a person's quality of life, as well as implications for their long-term health.
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"These drugs have the potential to bring about substantial weight loss, particularly in the first year," Juan Franco, co-lead researcher from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, said of the research in a statement.
"It’s an exciting moment after decades of unsuccessful attempts to find effective treatments for people living with obesity."
The research also notes that all the included studies were funded by the drug manufacturers', noting concerns about a possible conflict of interest. The Cochrane review was funded by the World Health Organization (WHO).
LADbible has approached Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly for comment.
Brenna Cooper