Often, if you stop a GLP-1 medication, lost weight returns. That could change.
A study led by Gastroenterologist Shelby A. Sullivan, MD, director of the Endoscopic Bariatric and Metabolic Program at Dartmouth Health’s Weight Center, shows that an outpatient procedure may help some patients who took a GLP-1 medication maintain their weight loss.
While most GLP-1 patients regain the weight they lost within 18 months of stopping the medication, 70% of participants who underwent duodenal mucosal resurfacing (DMR) successfully kept the weight off.
“As effective as GLP-1 medications are, many people stop taking them because of cost, side effects or simply not wanting to take a drug long-term,” says Shelby A. Sullivan, MD, director of the Endoscopic Bariatric and Metabolic Program at Dartmouth Health’s Weight Center and professor of medicine Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine, principal investigator of the REMAIN-1 trial.
“But if they stop these medications, weight regain occurs in the vast majority of patients, and the metabolic benefits are lost. Finding a treatment that allows patients to stop these medications without weight regain or loss of metabolic benefit is a huge unmet need. These findings indicate that this minimally invasive procedure may provide lasting weight-loss maintenance,” she says.
Read the press release.
To learn more about the study, visit clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06484114