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Author: Admin | 2025-04-28
“Frustration” is probably the mildest (non-swear) word to describe the feeling when the scale doesn’t budge or after you gain back lost weight. Does it feel like you’ve tried every type of buzzy diet and all the ways to get fit and firm (yep, even cardio drumming) and still no progress? It’s natural to feel like giving up. But new weight loss drugs may be just what you need to accomplish your health goals.“We now understand obesity isn’t a character flaw,” says W. Scott Butsch, MD, an obesity medicine specialist. “It’s a dysfunction of the complex system that controls body weight, which is largely based on genetics.”Since that shift in thought, and with increased knowledge on the science of obesity and weight regulation, anti-obesity medications have rapidly evolved to target the underpinnings of the disease. And according to Dr. Butsch, this new generation of drugs is safer and more effective than ever.How do weight loss drugs work?Anti-obesity medications may target several biological pathways that can contribute to obesity, like:Appetite.Cravings.Fullness feeling.Food preferences.Thoughts about food.Although older weight loss drugs, called Orlistat (Xenical® or Alli®), affect how much fat you absorb from food, largely based on the idea that fat intake causes obesity, most current anti-obesity medications target appetite regulation (that is, they make you feel fuller for longer, decrease your appetite, etc.). Some are oral medications (taken by mouth) while others are self-administered once-a-week injections.Earlier weight loss medicationsThe first generation of weight loss drugs developed in the 1930s through the 1960s were stimulants (called sympathomimetic), including dinitrophenol methamphetamine. At the time, it was thought that obesity was caused by increased hunger and overeating, so reducing appetite and speeding up metabolism was appropriate.Several of these medications (for example, phentermine and diethylpropion) are still used in practice, mostly in generic forms. They’re only approved for short-term use for weight loss (up to 12 weeks) because some are amphetamine-based and there’s a concern of addiction.These medications act on two parts of your brain:Hypothalamus: This area of your brain turns hunger on and off.Limbic area: This part of your brain stimulates the release of pleasure hormones
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