Behind the Science: Behind Pharmacotherapy for Obesity

The notion that the key to obesity management is to “eat less, move more,” is a deeply rooted cultural belief that can still be resistant to the current truth that obesity is a chronic, relapsing disease. Obesity medicine experts confirm that while dietary change and exercise are essential to the success of a weight management program, used alone they will not sustain meaningful weight loss for persons with overweight, obesity, or severe obesity. Enter the generation of new drugs that target the specific underlying physiology of obesity and work along with diet, exercise, and other interventions to augment and sustain weight loss. Editors at Patient Care Online spoke with leading obesity medicine investigators about how the new medications can be integrated into primary care where patients are seen first and most consistently as they struggle against the disease of obesity.