In order to promote long-term weight maintenance, guidelines from the Endocrine Society recommend the use of an approved weight loss medication over not using pharmacologic therapy in patients with a BMI of ≥ 30 kg/m2 or a BMI of ≥ 27 kg/m2 and at least one associated comorbid medical condition.
The guidelines also recommend against the use of the sympathomimetic agents phentermine and diethylpropion in patients who are obese with a history of cardiovascular disease or uncontrolled hypertension. In patients with cardiovascular disease who seek pharmacologic treatment for weight loss, lorcaserin and/or orlistat are recommended.
For patients who are obese with type 2 diabetes mellitus, the guidelines recommend using antidiabetic medications that have additional actions to promote weight loss (eg, GLP-1 analogs, SGLT2 inhibitors) in addition to metformin.
Read more about the pharmacologic treatment of obesity.
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Cite this: Romesh Khardori. Fast Five Quiz: Confronting Obesity - Medscape - Sep 20, 2019.
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