New trends in the treatment of obesity
New trends in the treatment of obesity
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Alanazi, Fahad
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Obesity, though a problem seen in the previous century had not reached its current
alarming rate where it affects 13% of the world population, approximately 600 million
people. Another 1.9 billion people were diagnosed as overweight in 2014, making the
probability of an increase in obese patients very high. It is now considered a modern day
epidemic since more people die due to obesity and its related issues than from malnutrition.
An imbalance in caloric intake is the cause of overweight and obesity. The sedentary lifestyle
that has been embraced by a majority of people today is also to blame. With time, the
patient will begin to notice signs of weight increase such as their clothes fitting tighter and
an intolerance to physical activities. If weight loss is not achieved, within a few years,
several comorbidities may affect the individual. The most dangerous being in the
cardiovascular category such as stroke or myocardial infarction which are currently the
leading cause of death in adults’ world-wide.
Efforts are being made at every level; personal, society, government to curb this illness
before it causes any more damage. Several measures have therefore been put in place, and
they include nutritional counselling, an increase in physical activity, behavioural therapy,
surgery and pharmacological treatment. On the part of the physician and pharmaceutical
industry, it has been a long journey to obtain the ideal anti-obesity drugs.
Many drugs have been approved over the years but subsequently withdrawn due to the
adverse side effects that they caused to the patient. This thesis discusses the currently
available medication and those emerging.
Phentermine is currently the only drug approved for the short term treatment of obesity.
Orlistat a drug that inhibits pancreatic lipase was approved in 1999, Lorcaserin the serotonin
agonist followed suite in 2012 along with Qsymia, a combination of phentermine and
topiramate. In 2014, the drug Contrave, a bupropion and naltrexone combination was
approved for long term use. Tesofensine, a serotonin, noradrenaline and dopamine reuptake
inhibitor is currently in Phase III testing while Empatic, a zonisamide and bupropion
is in Phase II testing. Although the search for better anti-obesity drugs still continues, good
progress is being made in this journey and there is hope for discovering the cure of obesity.
Leírás
Kulcsszavak
pharmacology, treatment, obesity, conrtrave