UW Med: More study needed into the ‘why’ of new weight-loss drugs

A cartridge injector is used to administer
Ozempic and other medications that help
control blood-sugar levels.
Getty Images, courtesy UW Med blog

Hitting the market over the past six years, the drugs Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro are viewed as a therapeutic breakthrough for the 42% of the U.S. population who are clinically obese. 

One Seattle endocrinologist suggests, however, that their unknowns are significant, and more research is needed.

It is premature to regard these drugs as the ultimate weight-loss therapy, Dr. Michael Schwartz co-wrote in a commentary published this week in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Many experts seem to be saying “OK, we’ve fixed this problem. We’re done,” noted Schwartz, who co-directs the UW Medicine Diabetes Institute.

The commentary contends that concerns about the drugs’ specific mechanisms of action have not been addressed — among them, why some people who have experienced pronounced weight loss with the drugs “regain the weight at an extraordinary pace — even faster than it was lost” upon discontinuing the drugs.

Learn more about Schwartz’s perspective in this UW Medicine Newsroom blog post.