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Why drugs?

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Pharmacotherapy of Obesity

Part of the book series: Milestones in Drug Therapy ((MDT))

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Abstract

Drug therapy for obesity has had a difficult past history. A number of drugs have had addictive or toxic properties that have required discontinuation. Pharmacotherapy for obesity has an important role in those persons who have failed behavioral weight loss attempts or as an adjunct to those attempts. The interest in pharmacotherapy for obesity is an outgrowth of the now general recognition that it is a chronic disease that cannot be cured, but can be treated. Treatment, however, will generally be a life-long affair. The focus on drug therapy is due to the frequent failure of non-pharmacological weight loss programs.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, 1111 Amsterdam Avenue, WH 1020, New York, NY, 10025, USA

    F. Xavier Pi-Sunyer

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  1. F. Xavier Pi-Sunyer
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Sciences Centre, University Hospital Aintree, Longmoor Lane, Liverpool, L9 7AL, UK

    John P. H. Wilding

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© 2008 Birkhäuser Verlag/Switzerland

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Pi-Sunyer, F.X. (2008). Why drugs?. In: Wilding, J.P.H. (eds) Pharmacotherapy of Obesity. Milestones in Drug Therapy. Birkhäuser Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7643-7425-9_1

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