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Current pharmacotherapeutic concepts for the treatment of obesity in adults

Obesity is one of the greatest public health challenges of the twenty-first century. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that in 2005 approximately 1.6 billion adults were overweight and at least 400 million adults were obese. The prevalence of obesity is still continuing to increase dramatically. Overweight and obese people carry a higher risk for a variety of cardiovascular diseases including hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke and peripheral occlusive artery disease. Weight loss is considered to be the initial step which helps to prevent or to control the clinical consequences of obesity. In a great number of patients who are not able to reduce weight by means of non-pharmacological measures, drug therapy can assist in reaching the weight management targets. Drug treatment should only be considered as part of a systematic weight management program including dietary and lifestyle changes. This review summarizes current pharmacotherapeutic concepts for the treatment of obesity in adults focusing on efficacy and safety of anti-obesity drugs.