Should weight loss medication be considered a chronic medication?
Zuko Komisa
Imagine stopping your asthma pump and expecting your lungs to stay clear, or tossing your cholesterol pills while assuming your heart will be fine.
We know that’s not how chronic illness works. Yet, when it comes to obesity, society still frames it as a personal discipline problem rather than a true medical condition.
In South Africa, one in three adults lives with obesity, a reality that quietly drives up the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
While groundbreaking weight-loss medications like GLP-1s have offered new hope, recent research shows a sobering truth: when the medication stops, the weight frequently returns.
This highlights why obesity needs to be treated as a long-term health issue requiring ongoing management, rather than a temporary hurdle.
To unpack this shift, Drive 959 spoke with Dr. Nomathemba Chandiwana, Chief Scientific Officer and researcher at the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation.
She explains that the body naturally fights to defend its highest weight by altering hunger hormones and slowing metabolism when medication stops.
Dr. Chandiwana emphasizes the need to move away from “shame and blame,” focusing instead on evidence-based care that centers a person’s overall health rather than just their body size.
Listen to the full conversation here:
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The post Why stopping your weight-loss medication is like ditching your asthma pump appeared first on KAYA 959.
