Anti-obesity medication

The medications liraglutide,[4] naltrexone/bupropion,[5] orlistat,[6] semaglutide,[7] and tirzepatide[8] are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for weight management in combination with reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity.

[36] 2,4-Dinitrophenol (DNP) was introduced in 1933; this worked by uncoupling the biological process of oxidative phosphorylation in mitochondria, causing them to produce heat instead of ATP.

[38] In 1967/1968 a number of deaths attributed to diet pills triggered a Senate investigation and the gradual implementation of greater restrictions on the market.

[40] Evidence mounted that the combination could cause valvular heart disease in up to 30 percent of those who had taken it, leading to withdrawal of fen-phen and dexfenfluramine from the market in September 1997.

[39] In the early 2020s, GLP-1 receptor agonists such as semaglutide or tirzepatide became popular for weight loss because they are more effective than earlier drugs, causing a shortage for patients prescribed these medications for type 2 diabetes, their original indication.

This patient population is considered to have sufficiently high baseline health risks to justify the use of anti-obesity medication.

[45][46] The American Academy of Pediatrics had not previously supported the use of weight loss medication in adolescents but issued new guidelines in 2023.

[49] The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves anti-obesity medications as an adjunctive therapy to diet and exercise for people for whom lifestyle changes do not result in sufficient weight loss.

[18] As of 2022, no medication has been discovered that would equal the effectiveness of bariatric surgery for long-term weight loss and improved health outcomes.