A new study has found that popular weight-loss injections, often called “miracle” jabs, are much less effective in everyday use than in clinical trials. The research, conducted by the Cleveland Clinic in the United States, suggests that people who use these injections in real-world settings lose significantly less weight than trial participants.
The study followed 7,881 adults with severe obesity who began using either semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy, or tirzepatide, found in Mounjaro, between 2021 and 2023. After one year, average weight loss among participants was 6.9 percent. This is less than half of what clinical trials have shown, where patients typically lose around 15 percent of their body weight with semaglutide and up to 22.5 percent with tirzepatide.
Researchers found that the drugs worked best for those who continued taking them as prescribed and at the recommended dose. However, in real-world conditions, many patients did not follow through. About 21 percent of patients stopped taking the injections within the first three months. Another 32 percent stopped between three months and a year. More than 80 percent of patients who continued were using lower-than-recommended maintenance doses. Those who quit early saw only a 3.6 percent drop in body weight. Patients who stayed on the treatment for a full year lost an average of 11.9 percent. The best outcomes were among those who remained on the full dose, who lost 13.7 percent with semaglutide and 18 percent with tirzepatide.
The study also looked at 1,320 participants who had prediabetes when they started treatment. It found that those who stayed on the medication were far more likely to see their blood sugar return to normal. About 68 percent of these patients reversed their condition compared to only 33 percent of those who stopped early. The injections work by mimicking a natural hormone called GLP-1, which helps reduce appetite and control blood sugar levels.
Dr. Hamlet Gasoyan, the study’s lead author, said the findings could help healthcare providers and patients better understand the importance of staying on treatment and following the correct dosage. He noted that early discontinuation of the drugs had a negative impact on both weight loss and blood sugar control. The most common reasons people stopped using the injections were cost, insurance coverage issues, side effects, and shortages. The researchers plan further studies to examine why patients stop treatment and what happens to their weight afterward.
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