Obesity

Newer drugs to treat obesity

Anti-obesity medication and weight loss drugs are pharmacological agents which reduce or control weight. These drugs alter one of the fundamental processes of the human body or weight regulation by altering either appetite or absorption of calories. The ideal anti-obesity drug would produce sustained weight loss with minimal side effects. Good news for those who wish to lose weight, as a team has identified two new types of cells in the brain that can potently regulate appetite and offer new drugs to treat obesity. Drugs that target pathways in metabolic tissues, such as adipocytes, liver and skeletal muscle, have shown potential in preclinical studies but none has yet reached clinical development. To succeed in developing drugs that control body weight to the extent seen following surgical intervention, it seems obvious that a new paradigm is needed.