Weight-Loss Pharmacotherapy: A Brief Review
- Mary Margaret Huizinga, MD, MPH
Abstract
IN BRIEF
The medical treatment of obesity is aimed at decreasing appetite, alterating absorption of calories, and increasing thermogenesis. Two agents are available for the long-term treatment of obesity: sibutramine, a centrally acting anorectic agent, and orlistat, which blocks the absorption of fat by inhibiting the enzyme lipase. Agents approved for short-term treatment include the central anorectic agents phentermine and diethylpropion. Other agents, including endocannabinoid system antagonists, anti-epileptic agents, and combination therapies, are under investigation.
Footnotes
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Mary Margaret Huizinga, MD, MPH, is an instructor in the Division of General Internal Medicine and Public Health, Department of Medicine, Center for Health Services Research, and assistant medical director at the Vanderbilt Center for Surgical Weight Loss at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn.
- American Diabetes Association
