Use of Pharmacotherapy in Obesity Management

Obesity is a chronic disease which is often relapsing and progressive due in part to the physiology of energy homeostasis in people with obesity, rendering them with the challenge of attaining adequate weight loss and weight maintenance after successful weight loss. Depending on the presence, types and severity of the obesity-related comorbidities (ORCs), some patients will require an amount of weight loss beyond what lifestyle and behavioural modification can achieve. Even after bariatric surgery, patients may not lose the expected amount of weight or experience weight regain. Anti-obesity medications may be required to support them further. Hence, the use of pharmacotherapy in obesity management remains an important adjunct to lifestyle and behavioural modifications and even to bariatric surgery, particularly in those with more severe ORCs and with a high body mass index. This article discusses the general approach to the use of pharmacotherapy in obesity management and the various anti-obesity medications currently approved.