Obesity medications reduce total body weight by 3-9% compared with placebo, when combined with lifestyle changes.

Commentary on: Yanovski SZ, Yanovski JA. Long-term drug treatment for obesity: a systematic and clinical review. JAMA 2014;311:74–86.[OpenUrl][1][CrossRef][2][PubMed][3][Web of Science][4] Obesity is associated with numerous complications, notably type 2 diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease and obstructive sleep apnoea. Weight loss of 5–10%, if maintained for 2 years or more, can lead to significant improvements in these comorbidities, especially type 2 diabetes.1 Mild-to-moderate-intensity lifestyle interventions often do not achieve clinically significant and sustained weight loss for obese patients. Pharmacotherapy is recommended as an adjunct to lifestyle therapies for achieving weight loss in patients with a body mass index (BMI) of ≥30 kg/m2, and in patients with weight-related comorbidities and a BMI of ≥27 kg/m2. Yanovski and Yanovski conducted … [1]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DJAMA%26rft.volume%253D311%26rft.spage%253D74%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Adoi%252F10.1001%252Fjama.2013.281361%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Apmid%252F24231879%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [2]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=10.1001/jama.2013.281361&link_type=DOI [3]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=24231879&link_type=MED&atom=%2Febnurs%2F18%2F1%2F29.atom [4]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=000329161400020&link_type=ISI