Stopping put weight back on while staying on it took more off
After 20 weeks reaching the full 2.4 mg dose, 803 adults were split: over 48 weeks the placebo group put on 6.9% and the group still injecting lost another 7.9%.
What the study found
Taken off the drug, weight rose 6.9%; kept on it, weight fell 7.9%
Randomising the stopping is what makes this more than an observation. After everyone spent 20 weeks reaching the full 2.4mg dose and lost a mean 10.6%, 803 adults were split: over the next 48 weeks the placebo group put on 6.9% and the group still injecting lost another 7.9%.
The caveat · Likely quitters dropped out first
Everyone had already tolerated 20 weeks of dose escalation before being randomised, so the people most likely to quit were gone before the clock started. Lifestyle support carried on in both arms, which is not the same as stopping everything. Four in five participants were women.