Recent weight-loss medicine present promise in treating weight problems, however considerations embody high prices, health disparities, and potential lifelong dedication. Despite challenges, this marks a turning level in efficient weight problems remedies.
In a latest Editorial, Cynthia Bulik and Andrew Hardaway focus on the developments in medical remedies for weight problems and weight loss. “With the emergence of new, highly effective weight-loss drugs, might the ‘fat decades’ become a closed chapter in the history of public health?” ask the authors. The “obesity epidemic” is a international health concern, with greater than a billion folks affected by weight problems and lots of extra obese.
Factors Behind Obesity and New Treatments
Although numerous environmental, organic, and behavioral components have been implicated in weight problems, few constantly efficient remedies exist for the illness. However, there’s renewed hope with the introduction of new weight-loss medicine. For occasion, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, initially developed for treating diabetes, have displayed potential. They work by suppressing urge for food and amplifying satiety indicators from the intestine to the mind.
Concerns Surrounding New Medications
However, there are considerations associated to those new drugs. Firstly, they arrive with a high price ticket, which might exacerbate health disparities. This is very regarding since weight problems predominantly impacts marginalized racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic teams.
Moreover, weight regain is widespread as soon as the remedy is discontinued, functionally rendering them “forever” medicine with presently unknown potential long-term unwanted effects. “Tackling these issues is essential to prevent unintended consequences brought on by the meteoric success of these drugs,” write Bulik and Hardaway. “We are entering an era in which effective obesity treatments exist for the first time.”
Reference: “Turning the tide on obesity?” by Cynthia M. Bulik and J. Andrew Hardaway, 3 August 2023, Science.
DOI: 10.1126/science.adj9953
