On Dec. 8, 2021, The Lancet, one of the four top medical journals, online published a full-length article by WCH of SCU systematically estimating the effectiveness and safety of different weight-loss drugs for adults with overweight and obesity.

Obesity is an important risk factor for endocrine metabolism and cardiovascular diseases, and plays a major part in the disease burden for a long time. Although lifestyle intervention has always been emphasized as the cornerstone of weight loss intervention, many adults who are deeply obsessed by overweight and obesity find it difficult to adhere to lifestyle intervention for a long time, or often encounter weight rebound after stopping lifestyle intervention. As an important supplementary means of lifestyle intervention, there is a lasting demand for weight-lowering drugs. However, the weight-lowering effects and risks of such drugs have remained controversial for a long time. In recent years, novel weight-lowering drugs have mushroomed constantly, and some of them have been “removed from the shelves” by the medical management authorities because of safety concerns.

Through fashion approaches of systematic review, evidence synthesis and data visualization, the study suggests that phentermine/topiramate and GLP-1 receptor agonists are the most significant weight-lowering drugs. Clinicians and patients can quickly choose weight-lowering drugs through the intuitive information provided graphically. The results of this study will support the first clinical decision-making recommendation for weight- lowering drugs at WCH, and may provide a reference for the treatment choices by those people who are deeply troubled by overweight.

Professor CW le Roux of the University College Dublin, Ireland in the latest narrative review in The Lancet, recommended the findings from the article. The preprint version of this paper once ranked among Top 10 in obesity, public health and other fields and cited by multiple high-quality journals like The Lancet.

Link：https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)01640-8/fulltext