Increasing prevalence of obesity and its complications in practically all developed countries worldwide is one of the most cardinal problems of current healthcare. Obesity is an important risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus and it is closely interconnected with arterial hypertension, dyslipidemia and other diseases commonly referred to as metabolic syndrome or insulin resistance syndrome.
Overall, this combination of diseases markedly increases risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. In this paper, we provide a review of current possibilities of pharmacological modulation of body weight in patients with obesity both with and without diabetes.
We also briefly mention the treatment possibilities using bariatric surgery and endoscopy, and discuss the perspectives of pharmacological modulation of body weight in patients with diabetes in the context of ongoing research programmes.