A new study shows that treatment with a lifestyle modification program of diet, exercise and behavioral therapy when used in combination with the weight loss medication sibutramine (Meridia?) resulted in significantly greater weight loss among obese adults than treatment with the medication alone.
The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, appears in the November 17, 2005 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine and was supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
NIH is fighting the increasing problem of obesity in America by supporting research that will result in better treatments and therapies for weight loss and the prevention of obesity’s associated diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and some forms of cancer, says NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D.
“Lifestyle modification should be the first line of treatment for obesity,” says Susan Yanovski, M.D., director of the Obesity and Eating Disorders Program for NIDDK, and author of an accompanying editorial in the journal. “But for obese adults who can’t lose enough weight to improve their health, medication used as an adjunct can help.”
“The take home message is that weight loss medications will be most effective when they are combined with a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity,” says Thomas A. Wadden, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and lead author of the study.
Weight loss medication used alone can produce some weight loss, but lifestyle modification treatment can help patients acquire skills to successfully make changes in their diet and physical activity.