The History of Drug Treatment for Obesity: Do The Pros Outweigh The Cons

This article is going to look at the history of drug treatment for obesity. Treatment of obesity usually starts with lifestyle (diet and exercise) and psychological changes, followed by drug plans and bariatric surgery. The role of obesity drugs are to decrease consumption (appetite suppressant), absorb nutrients, or to increase energy expenditure. As there isn’t many drugs currently licensed, history would suggest that the side effects are too dangerous and that the cons outweigh the pros.

“As a Cancer doctor, I’m looking forward to being out of a job” Daniel Kraft

Cancer is a collection of different diseases and displays uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells, causing a primary tumour (the initial site of the tumour). A benign tumour will remain localized and is usually surrounded by a fibrous capsule, whereas a malignant tumour will infiltrate and metastasize.

Cancer development

   

     Initiation (carcinogen)                 Promotion                     Progression                   Metastasis

                    ↓                                          ↓                                    ↓                                  ↓

Normal cell →       Transformed cell       →       Tumour cell         →       Cancer cell        →    Cancer cell  

                          (metaplasia hyperplasia)    (hyperplasia benign)  (anaplasia malignant)  (anaplasia secondary)

Patau Syndrome: A Rare and Upsetting disorder

I studied Patau syndrome very briefly during second year of university. 

Patau syndrome was first reported by Patau (1960) and is also known as trisomy 13, the condition is the most severe and the third most common trisomy behind Edwards and Down syndrome. The standard karyotype has a typical 46XX chromosome algorithm for females and XY males. Aneuploidy is a genetic disorder in which a fetus has an extra or missing chromosome, and can occur in about 1 in 150 babies. Patau syndrome is a chromosomal disorder in which a person has three copies of chromosome 13. Edwards is a trisomy 18 and Down syndrome is a trisomy 21. 

Will the Increasing Prevalence of Obesity Slow Down the Decline of Coronary Heart Disease?

CHD causes around 82,000 deaths each year with an additional estimated 2.7 million people living with the condition, making it the UK’s largest killer (NHS). The increasing prevalence of obesity in the UK is likely to cause an increase in health complications, including CHD. Audelin et al, (2008) states that 44% of CHD patients entering cardiac rehabilitation were obese and 80% were overweight. Guh et al, (2008) states that prevention of CHD in obese individuals is best achieved through weight loss.