About this Research Topic
Obesity is a pandemic that worsens the health status and survival of the subjects suffering from it. Worldwide, more than 1.9 billion adults are overweighed or obese, which uncovers a lack of full understanding of the disease and the absence of effective treatments. Several risk factors affect obesity rates in a specific country, such as cultural factors. Traditionally, the cornerstone of obesity treatment has been diet, exercise, and behavior modification, and weight loss and maintenance have primarily required strong willpower from the patient. However, only a slight percentage of patients benefit adequately from this strategy. In this regard, pharmacotherapy provides an option to reduce body weight if lifestyle modifications fail.
Antiobesity drugs can help patients to improve weight loss and maintain lifestyle modifications, but with partial and incomplete efficacy. Antiobesity therapy is characterized by a great inter-individual response (variability) and limited weight reduction. In addition, clinical research reports lack deeper or more personalized analyses. All of the above allows us to understand why the current guidelines for obesity management seem to be more adjusted to the effects of the available antiobesity drugs rather than to the rational choice of the most precise treatments to reach the goals of weight reduction in a personalized manner. Although a personalized and multidisciplinary treatment for obesity has been advocated, the traditional efficacy reports on weight loss do not allow establishing their personalized use, not even in specific subgroups that could especially benefit from treatment. Therefore, we need to deepen the analysis of existing studies and carry out clinical studies that allow us to advance in the personalized treatment of the patient, including the maintenance of the achieved weight reduction. As an example, weight reduction in the first month and development of tolerance have been found to be early predictors of the final drug efficacy in the patient.
We encourage scientists to publish their experimental and theoretical results in the form of original research, systematic review, methods, review, mini review, policy and practice review, hypothesis and theory article, perspective, clinical trial, clinical study protocol, case report, community case study, data report, brief research report and opinions focusing on precision strategies to improve personalized efficacy or in
subgroups of obese patients, including, but not limited to:
- the analysis of predictive factors that allow assessing the final efficacy of antiobesity strategies
- the description of pharmacological and non-pharmacological alternatives that benefit specific groups of the population
- sub-analyses addressing the perspective of personalized treatments from previous published studies and strategies for improving weight loss maintenance
Antiobesity drugs can help patients to improve weight loss and maintain lifestyle modifications, but with partial and incomplete efficacy. Antiobesity therapy is characterized by a great inter-individual response (variability) and limited weight reduction. In addition, clinical research reports lack deeper or more personalized analyses. All of the above allows us to understand why the current guidelines for obesity management seem to be more adjusted to the effects of the available antiobesity drugs rather than to the rational choice of the most precise treatments to reach the goals of weight reduction in a personalized manner. Although a personalized and multidisciplinary treatment for obesity has been advocated, the traditional efficacy reports on weight loss do not allow establishing their personalized use, not even in specific subgroups that could especially benefit from treatment. Therefore, we need to deepen the analysis of existing studies and carry out clinical studies that allow us to advance in the personalized treatment of the patient, including the maintenance of the achieved weight reduction. As an example, weight reduction in the first month and development of tolerance have been found to be early predictors of the final drug efficacy in the patient.
We encourage scientists to publish their experimental and theoretical results in the form of original research, systematic review, methods, review, mini review, policy and practice review, hypothesis and theory article, perspective, clinical trial, clinical study protocol, case report, community case study, data report, brief research report and opinions focusing on precision strategies to improve personalized efficacy or in
subgroups of obese patients, including, but not limited to:
- the analysis of predictive factors that allow assessing the final efficacy of antiobesity strategies
- the description of pharmacological and non-pharmacological alternatives that benefit specific groups of the population
- sub-analyses addressing the perspective of personalized treatments from previous published studies and strategies for improving weight loss maintenance
Keywords: cultural behavior, efficacy predictors, epidemiology, exercises, obesity, personalized medicine, pharmacotherapy, weight loss maintenance, weight rebound, precision diagnosis, precision treatment
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