Health

Wegovy users may keep the weight off for 4 years, drug's maker says

By Mallika Marshall, MD

May 15, 2024 / 5:31 PM EDT / CBS Boston

Wegovy's maker says users may keep the weight off for 4 years

BOSTON - A new analysis finds that people who use the newest weight loss drugs, specifically Wegovy, may keep the weight off for years.

Novo Nordisk, the maker of Wegovy, presented data showing that overweight or obese patients with underlying heart disease on the drug maintained an average weight loss of 10% of their body weight after four years.

About 17% of the participants in the study stopped using Wegovy due to side effects, most commonly nausea. But the scientists say once people lose about as much weight as they're going to lose, they don't tend to gain it back if they stay on the drug.

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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