Abstract
Obesity is one of the most important risk factors for the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus and is a major contributor to other diseases such as arterial hypertension, dyslipidemia, sleep apnoea syndrome and many others. The combination of obesity and the aforementioned associated diseases, often referred to as the metabolic syndrome, leads to a significant increase in the risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality and, in the case of diabetes, microvascular complications.
The prevalence of obesity is steadily increasing worldwide and the costs of treating its associated complications and chronic consequences are rising very significantly. In this article, we provide an overview of obesity prevention and treatment options.
In particular, we discuss currently available drugs, give an overview of the effect of different types of antidiabetic drugs on body weight, and discuss current treatment perspectives, including new anti-obesity drugs that are gradually approaching market introduction. We also briefly review the treatment of obesity using bariatric surgery and bariatric endoscopy.