Losing weight is challenging. Keeping the weight off is even MORE challenging. Because of this challenge people continue to look for tools to help them with long-term weight management. A recent study, funded by the National Institute of Health and published in the April 23, 2019 issues of Annals of Internal Medicine compared weight loss with metformin, intensive lifestyle intervention or placebo. After one year, 28% of the participants taking metformin, 62% of the participants in the lifestyle group and 13% of participants taking the placebo had lost 5% or more of their weight. Participants continued to be followed for 15 years beyond the active weight loss phase, 6% from the metformin group, 4% in the lifestyle group and 3% in the placebo group maintained their weight loss. Researchers concluded that those participants who were assigned to the metformin group maintained the greatest weight loss into year 15. Other factors that impacted long term weight loss included losing more weight in the first year, older age and continued use of metformin beyond the first year (for those who were taking it). You can read the abstract of the study here.