Researchers found that discontinuation of popular weight-loss and diabetes medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy can quickly erase their protective cardiovascular benefits, potentially increasing the risk of heart attack, stroke, and death.
The study conducted by Washington University in St. Louis, published in BMJ Medicine, followed more than 330,000 U.S. veterans with type 2 diabetes over three years.
The findings suggest that patients who consistently took GLP-1 medications observed an 18% reduction in major cardiovascular events.
But those who discontinued treatment for just six months experienced a 4% to 8% raises risk in comparison to continuous users.
Gaps of one to two years pushed that risk up by 14% to 22 %.
The findings coincide with separate research from the Cleveland Clinic published in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, which provided a more hopeful perspective on weight regain after stopping GLP-1.
The study had a sample size of 8,000 patients, finding that those who discontinued the drugs regained only 0.5% of their lost weight on average after one year, largely because 27% transitioned to alternative obesity medications and 20% eventually restarted their original treatment.
About half of GLP-1 users stop using the drugs within a year, often because of the high costs, which can top $1,000 a month without insurance, side effects such as nausea, or a lack of supply.Â
Manufacturers are trying to ease the problem, with Novo Nordisk announcing price reductions of up to 50%.
Experts have stressed the need for patients to seek advice from a health care professional in planning a transition strategy, which may include alternative therapies and lifestyle modifications to achieve weight and cardiovascular health.
