Top gastroenterologists gave a glowing review of new weight loss drugs, and ranked them in order of effectiveness
Top gastroenterologists gave a glowing review of new weight loss drugs, and ranked them in order of effectiveness
New medical guidelines have been published that strongly recommend certain weight loss drugs.
The researchers ranked the drugs, with semaglutide (aka Wegovy) coming out top.
Study author Perica Davitkov told Insider he was surprised by how well the drugs work.
The American Gastroenterological Association has for the first time released medical guidelines that strongly recommend prescribing weight loss drugs to certain patients and rank their efficacy.
The guidelines were drawn up by a team of experts including clinicians with expertise in obesity medicine, gastroenterologists, and a registered dietitian specializing in obesity.
The researchers assessed eight weight loss drugs, including semaglutide and liraglutide, with the aim of helping doctors decide which to prescribe to patients, and found that there are multiple effective and safe treatment options available.
They said they "strongly recommend" the use of weight loss drugs in addition to lifestyle changes for people with obesity and overweight who have been unable to lose weight through diet and exercise alone.
The drugs are effective alongside lifestyle changes
Using data from existing studies, the researchers assessed the drugs for positive and negative impacts, with the main focus being total body weight lost. They also compared the amount of weight lost by patients who took the drugs and those who only made lifestyle changes.
Lifestyle interventions generally included eating in calorie deficits of around 500-600 per day, plus 150 minutes of physical activity per week.
Weight loss was "substantially higher" when people took one of the drugs as well, researchers found.
They recommended four medications as first-line options for weight loss alongside diet and exercise.
The weight loss drugs in order of efficacy:
Drug name | Percentage of body weight lost when compared with placebo |
Semaglutide | 10.8% |
Phentermine-topiramate ER (Qsymia) | 8.5% |
Liraglutide (Saxenda) | 4.8% |
Naltrexone-Bupropion ER (Contrave) | 3.0% ........ Exipure : High Quality Diet Pills - USA Effective Weight Loss Supplement |