Pharmacological Support for the Treatment of Obesity—Present and Future

Abstract

Obesity is a growing civilization problem, associated with a number of negative health consequences affecting almost all tissues and organs. Currently, obesity treatment includes lifestyle modifications (including diet and exercise), pharmacologic therapies, and in some clinical situations, bariatric surgery. These treatments seem to be the most effective method supporting the treatment of obesity. However, they are many limitations to the options, both for the practitioners and patients. Often the comorbidities, cost, age of the patient, and even geographic locations may influence the choices. The pharmacotherapy of obesity is a fast-growing market. Currently, we have at our disposal drugs with various mechanisms of action (directly reducing the absorption of calories—orlistat, acting centrally—bupropion with naltrexone, phentermine with topiramate, or multidirectional—liraglutide, dulaglutide, semaglutide). The drugs whose weight-reducing effect is used in the course of the pharmacotherapy of other diseases (e.g., glucose-sodium cotransporter inhibitors, exenatide) are also worth mentioning. The obesity pharmacotherapy is focusing on novel therapeutic agents with improved safety and efficacy profiles. These trends also include an assessment of the usefulness of the weight-reducing properties of the drugs previously used for other diseases. The presented paper is an overview of the studies related to both drugs currently used in the pharmacotherapy of obesity and those undergoing clinical trials, taking into account the individual approach to the patient.