Pharmacological Advances to the Treatment of Obesity

Abstract

Obesity is one of the most serious problems of the 21st century and affects nearly 300 million people worldwide. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 18% of the adult population is obese. More alarming is the fact that there is a strong correlation between the development of childhood obesity and its prevalence in adulthood. Also, children who do not have this disease have a high probability of staying within normal weight in adulthood. Therefore, the presence of an early obesity predisposes to a prevalence of this condition in adult ages. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved five long-term obesity drugs for adults who are obese so far: lorcaserin, phentermine/topiramate, naltrexone/bupropion, Orlistat and liraglutide over the past two years. A fifth alternative, orlistat is a long-term medication that is effective for up to six months and is the only drug used to treat childhood obesity. For this reason, new pharmacological alternatives are investigated. Therefore, it is very important the knowledge of the intestine-brain axis and hence leptin, which regulates food intake and energy balance in normal weight subjects and is a key hormone in food and body regulation in both children and adults.

Could metabolic risk factors contribute to the development of cervical cancer?

“…It is possible to carry out by algorithms recommended for obesity management in family medicine, pediatrics and gynecology and obstetrics [24]. In this way, subgroups of women with a higher risk of CxCa could be counseled about diet modi ication, physical activity increase, pharmacological therapy, bariatric surgery and psychological support [25][26][27][28].…”

Medications for the treatment of obesity in adolescents

“…Childhood obesity can track into adulthood and obesity increases the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. 9 Pharmacotherapy for weight loss in the pediatric population are much more limited than in adults. The 2017 Endocrine Society Guidelines suggest pharmacotherapy for adolescents if a formal lifestyle modification program fails to limit weight gain or to ameliorate comorbidities.…”

Lifestyle Impact on Glycemic Control in Patients Diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes

“…Patients with type 2 diabetes present insulin resistance (IR), relative deficiency and progressive beta cells depletion [7,8]. Although regularly there is a coexistence of factors, IR is probably the predominant component in early stages in overweight and obesity cases [9]. The causes that trigger type 2 diabetes are unknown in 70-85% of patients, although factors such as polygenic inheritance (undetermined number of gens) participate in addition to nutritional and environmental factors.…”