We live in what many consider the golden age of anti-obesity pharmacology, since in recent years, medications based on GLP-1 analogues and other receptors, such as semaglutide or tirzepatide, have revolutionized the medical approach to excess weight, promising almost miraculous results. However, science indicates that losing a lot of weight does not automatically mean living better.
A great study published in The BMJ has shaken medical expectations after analyzing mountains of clinical data. With all this, it has been concluded that, despite the drastic weight loss achieved by these drugs, the vast majority of them fail to significantly improve the quality of life of patients or substantially reduce cardiovascular risk after one year of treatment.
How they have done it. The published research is not a small study, since we are talking about a mammoth systematic review and a network meta-analysis that has unified the data from 262 clinical trials in which around 100,000 people participated. In total, the effectiveness and risks of 19 currently available anti-obesity drugs, such as Ozempic, were put under scrutiny.
The result. Although the effect it has on losing weight is undeniable, the data suggests that those medications that achieve greater weight loss are usually accompanied by a much greater toll in the form of side effects. It is precisely this toll, added to factors such as the loss of lean mass, that explains why, in trial surveys, patients do not report a notable improvement in their daily well-being despite having managed to lose weight.
A complex puzzle. This latest macro study is not the only one that has attempted to shed light and shadows on these well-known treatments, since a meta-analysis published in Nature a few months ago specifically evaluated the comparative efficacy and safety between tirzepatide, semaglutide and liraglutide. The results already anticipated that clinical potency should always be weighed against the tolerability of each patient.
The experts. José M. Ordovás, senior researcher at the Jean Mayer Research Center, sums it up perfectly in statements to SMC:
“The study fits with what we already knew: some drugs cause significant weight loss, but losing weight does not automatically mean improving all aspects of health. The scale tells part of the story, but not the whole story”.
For his part, José Pablo Miramontes González, an internist at the Río Hortega Hospital in Valladolid, points out that one year of follow-up is usually a short time to see miraculous improvements in heart attacks or mortality:
“Cardiovascular risk does not depend only on weight lost, but also on age, previous diseases, blood pressure and lipids”.
Images | freepik
In Xataka | We believed that with Ozempic, people who lost weight exercised more. we believed wrong
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings