Patients in real world shed less weight than in clinical settings and may benefit more from bariatric surgery
People using weight loss jabs shed far fewer pounds in the real world than in clinical trials, researchers have found.
Jabs such as Wegovy and Mounjaro, which contain the drugs semaglutide and tirzepatide respectively, have transformed the treatment of obesity, with studies suggesting the former can help people lose up to 20% of their body weight after 72 weeks of treatment.
However, a new study suggests the drugs, known as GLP-1 RAs, may not produce such drastic weight loss in everyday settings.
“The average patient on [GLP-1 RAs] in the real world is not getting the weight loss that we see in clinical trials,” said the study’s senior author, Dr Karan Chhabra, from the Grossman school of medicine at New York University.
