Efficacy comparison of medications approved for chronic weight management

Obesity (Silver Spring). 2015 Apr:23 Suppl 1:S4-7. doi: 10.1002/oby.21093.

Abstract

For the first time, patients who are obese are able to benefit from 5 different FDA approved pharmacologic agents for chronic weight management. Although weight loss from all of these medications was limited to 5% to 10% of total body weight loss in the Phase III clinical trials, patients are capable of losing more weight when a cumulative approach of diet, exercise, and multiple medications are used. A pilot study of adding phentermine to lorcaserin yielded double the weight loss than lorcaserin alone. A higher percentage of total body weight is lost with use of combination phentermine/topiramate compared to orlistat, lorcaserin, and bupropion/naltrexone but there are more contraindications to its use and potential cardiovascular adverse effects due to adrenergic agonism. Lorcaserin and bupropion/naltrexone yielded similar weight loss but carry different adverse effect profiles and interactions with other psychiatric medications may preclude use of one over the other. When choosing a medication for obesity, several factors need to be considered, such as comorbidities, medication interactions, and risk of potential adverse effects.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Anti-Obesity Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Appetite Depressants / therapeutic use*
  • Benzazepines / therapeutic use
  • Body Weight / drug effects
  • Clinical Trials as Topic
  • Clinical Trials, Phase III as Topic
  • Female
  • Fructose / analogs & derivatives
  • Fructose / therapeutic use
  • Humans
  • Obesity / drug therapy*
  • Phentermine / therapeutic use
  • Pilot Projects
  • Topiramate
  • Weight Loss / drug effects

Substances

  • Anti-Obesity Agents
  • Appetite Depressants
  • Benzazepines
  • Topiramate
  • Fructose
  • lorcaserin
  • Phentermine