Obesity treatment needs more trials, researchers warn

Further trials are needed on drugs used for obesity treatment, according to a group of Canadian researchers.

The drugs Orlistat, Sibutramine and Rimonabant are currently used to promote weight loss, but researchers from the University of Alberta Hospital in Canada are concerned that there is a lack of long-term data on major obesity-related illness and death which has caused trials to be limited.

"In light of the lack of successful weight-loss treatments and the public health implications of the obesity pandemic, the development of safe and effective drugs should be a priority," Dr Raj Padwal and Dr Sumit Majumdar wrote in the Lancet.

"We think that anti-obesity drug trials powered to show clinically important reductions in major obesity-related morbidity and mortality should be required either before these drugs are approved for widespread use or as a condition of ongoing approval."

Rimonabant was licensed last year in the UK, where government statistics indicate there could be 12 million obese adults by 2010.

However, the researchers warn that further trials should be conducted to ensure that the benefits of the drugs outweigh the potential risks.

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