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Medicinal strategies in the treatment of obesity

Nature volume 404, pages 672–677 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

When prevention fails, medicinal treatment of obesity may become a necessity. Any strategic medicinal development must recognize that obesity is a chronic, stigmatized and costly disease that is increasing in prevalence. Because obesity can rarely be cured, treatment strategies are effective only as long as they are used, and combined therapy may be more effective than monotherapy. For a drug to have significant impact on body weight it must ultimately reduce energy intake, increase energy expenditure, or both. Currently approved drugs for long-term treatment of obesity include sibutramine, which inhibits food intake, and orlistat, which blocks fat digestion.

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Figure 1: Body-weight regulation can be viewed as a feedback system.
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  1. Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc., 75 Sidney Street, Cambridge, 02139, Massachusetts, USA

    Louis A. Tartaglia

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Bray, G., Tartaglia, L. Medicinal strategies in the treatment of obesity. Nature 404, 672–677 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35007544

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