Unfortunately, the effect of the “slimming injection” does not last long

However, in the second group of subjects who continued to take the medication, the pounds continued to fall. The study involved 670 patients from different countries who were obese or overweight at baseline. After 36 weeks, they had lost an average of about 21 percent, a research team reports in the journal ‘Jama’.

The placebo group again increased significantly
Some of the test subjects also received the active substance afterwards and lost another 5.5 percent weight in week 88 of the study. After the first phase, the researchers only gave a second group a placebo: at the end of the study, this group had increased significantly again. Yet the subjects recorded a weight loss of about ten percent over the entire study period.

At least five studies of different classes of drugs – including the current one – have shown that there is a clear yo-yo effect after discontinuation.

The results are “anything but surprising,” says Stephan Martin, chief physician for diabetology and director of the West German Diabetes and Health Center in Düsseldorf, pointing to almost identical study results for semaglutide.

Common side effects
The research also shows that side effects are common and mainly affect the gastrointestinal tract: such as nausea, diarrhea and constipation. This is comparable to semaglutide preparations. Severity is described in the study as mostly mild to moderate, and side effects became less common over time.