Semaglutide Plus Intensive Behavioral Therapy Most Beneficial for Weight Loss
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, May 23, 2025 -- Weight loss treatment combining personalized semaglutide with intensive behavioral therapy (IBT) yields weight loss similar to that reported in confirmatory trials, with a lower dose of medication, according to a study published online May 12 in The Lancet Digital Health to coincide with the annual meeting of the European Congress on Obesity, hosted by the European Association for the Study of Obesity, from May 11 to 14 in Malaga, Spain.
Søren Seier, from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, and colleagues examined the effectiveness of an online multidisciplinary weight loss service combining personalized semaglutide doses with IBT in a retrospective cohort study. The study included 2,694 participants who were treated with semaglutide and IBT including personalized evidence-based recommendations on nutrition, exercise, and habits through an online app (The Embla app).
Overall, 1,580, 712, and 465 participants were still included after 26, 52, and 64 weeks, respectively. The researchers found that after 64 weeks, participants had a mean weight loss of −16.7 percent, with a mean semaglutide dose of 1.08 mg/week. Weight loss of at least 5 and 10 percent was achieved by 98 and 83 percent of participants, respectively. Across baseline body mass index class subgroups and across mean medication doses, there was a similar percentage change in body weight.
“Our results show that by giving personalized doses of semaglutide along with diet, exercise, and psychological support, it is possible for patients to achieve clinical trial-level weight loss in their day-to-day lives," Henrik Gudbergsen, M.D., lead researcher and chief medical officer of Embla, said in a press release. “Our ‘treat-to-target’ approach, in which amount of medication was tailored to each patient’s goals, allowed us to keep doses as low as possible, which should mean lower costs and fewer side-effects for patients.”
Several authors disclosed ties to biopharmaceutical companies, including Embla ApS, which funded the study.
Abstract/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted May 2025
Read this next
Swept-Source Anterior Segment OCT Can Help Distinguish Early Childhood Glaucoma
FRIDAY, May 23, 2025 -- The noninvasive swept-source anterior-segment optical coherence tomography (SS-ASOCT) can diagnose early-onset childhood glaucoma, according to a study...
Higher Social Media Use Tied to Subsequent Depressive Symptoms in Youth
FRIDAY, May 23, 2025 -- Higher social media use is associated with greater subsequent depressive symptoms in children and adolescents, according to a study published online May 21...
Pulmonary Embolism More Common in Children Than Previously Thought
THURSDAY, May 22, 2025 -- Pulmonary embolism (PE) is more common in children than previously thought, according to a study presented at the American Thoracic Society 2025...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.