Anti-obesity medication boosts weight loss when behavioral therapy falls short
Research finds that introducing medication sooner than the current guidelines call for can help patients with obesity who struggle to lose weight with diet and physical activity alone.
1 min. read
Adding an anti-obesity medication just one month after behavioral therapy begins—rather than waiting the currently recommended six months—can more than double weight loss for patients who struggle initially with lifestyle changes alone, according to new research published in Nature Medicine from a team at the Perelman School of Medicine.
Obesity affects more than 40 percent of American adults and is linked to increased risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer. Both behavioral therapy, also known as lifestyle intervention, and anti-obesity medication can help patients to succeed with meeting their weight and health goals. However, the effectiveness of these treatments varies widely for different individuals. This research addresses a critical gap by providing evidence that people who struggle to lose weight with one treatment method can succeed when a different kind of treatment is added.
Most obesity management guidelines recommend trying behavioral interventions for at least six months as the first-line treatment for individuals who could benefit from weight loss. These lifestyle interventions include a reduced-calorie diet, increased physical activity, and behavioral strategies (like tracking food intake and physical activity). The sessions are led by trained counselors and focus on helping participants set specific, achievable health and weight goals. They also provide accountability and feedback on goals from the previous week. However, previous research has shown that up to half of patients do not achieve a clinically meaningful loss of at least 5 percent of their starting weight with these tactics.
“Surprisingly little is known about how to help patients who struggle to lose weight when they are already receiving frequent lifestyle counseling sessions,” said Jena Shaw Tronieri, a senior research investigator at the Center for Weight and Eating Disorders in the Department of Psychiatry who led the study. “Some experts have suggested that adding an anti-obesity medication should be the next step, but no studies have tested whether this approach actually improves weight loss.”
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