Abstract
Background: Maintenance of weight loss in patients that undergo weight loss interventions is highly challenging, irrespective of the type of approach to obesity (whether surgical, pharmacological, or non-pharmacological). We proposed a protocol of an aggressive clinical treatment for obesity aiming to prevent the need of bariatric surgery, in patients unwilling to undergo this procedure, by proposing a protocol that included the combination of different anti-obesity medications and non-pharmacological modalities, for longer duration, and with an active approach to prevent weight regain. Our initial 2-year data showed that 93% (40 of 43 patients) with moderate and morbid obesity were able to avoid the need of bariatric surgery, with concomitant improvements of the biochemical profile. However, whether these patients would maintain their successful rates after five years was uncertain. Our objective is to describe the efficacy and safety of a long term (5-year data) pharmacological and multi-modal treatment for moderate and severe obesity. Methods: The 40 patients that were successful in the two-year approach in our obesity center (Corpometria Institute, Brasilia, DF, Brazil) were enrolled. A long-term anti-obesity protocol was employed, with continuous or intermittent use of anti-obesity drugs, trimestral body composition analysis, psychotherapy, visit to a nutritionist every four months, and both resistance and endurance exercises at least four times a week. Body weight (BW), total weight excess (TWE), body fat, markers of lipid and glucose metabolism, liver function, and inflammation were analyzed. Subjects that dropped out were considered as weight regain. Therapeutic success for the 5-year follow-up included as the maintenance of >20% loss of the initial BW loss, and no weight regain (or < 20% of the initial weight loss). Results: A total of 27 patients (67.5%) were able to maintain the body weight, seven dropped out, and six regained more than 20% of the initial weight loss. Of these, 21 (77.8%) had significant further increase of muscle mass and decrease of fat loss, while 17 (63.0%) had further weight loss (p < 0.05), compared to the 2-year data. Improvements on the biochemical profile persisted in all 27 patients, and had significant further improvements in 24 (88.9%) of these patients. Conclusion: The risk of weight regain five years after a weight loss treatment for obesity was significantly lower compared to previous literature, and comparable to the long-term outcomes of bariatric procedures. An aggressive, structured, and long-term clinical weight loss approach has been shown to be feasible, even for morbidly obese patients.
Impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on initial weight loss in a digital weight management program: A natural experiment