From Nancy Lapid

January 8 (Reuters) - A broad analysis of previous research has shown that when patients stop taking weight-loss drugs, the beneficial effects of these drugs on weight and other health problems dissipate within two years.

By reviewing data from 9,341 obese or overweight patients treated in 37 studies with any of 18 different weight-loss drugs, researchers found that they regained an average of 0.4 kilograms per month after stopping the medication and were expected to return to their pre-treatment weight within 1.7 years.

According to a report on the study published in The BMJ, heart health risk factors such as blood pressure and cholesterol levels, which improved with the medication, are expected to return to pre-treatment levels within an average of 1.4 years after stopping the medication.

Nearly half of the patients had taken GLP-1 drugs, including 1,776 patients who received the newer and more potent semaglutide drugs sold under the names Ozempic and Wijovi by Novo Nordisk, and terzipatide sold under the names Mongaro and Zipound by Eli Lilly.

The rate of weight regain was faster with semaglutide and terzepatide, averaging approximately 0.8 kg per month.

The researchers concluded that regardless of the amount of weight lost, monthly weight regain is faster after taking weight-loss drugs compared to behavior-based weight management programs.

The study was unable to determine whether some patients were more able than others to maintain their weight after losing it.

"Identifying who is doing well and who is not remains the most important question in weight loss research, but no one has an answer to that yet," said Dimitrios Koutokidis, lead researcher on the study from Oxford University.

(Prepared by Marwa Gharib for the Arabic Bulletin)