| Title |
Weight loss medications in Canada – a new frontier or a repeat of past mistakes?
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity: Targets and Therapy, October 2017
|
| DOI | 10.2147/dmso.s141571 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Sean Wharton, Jasmine Lee, Rebecca AG Christensen |
| Abstract |
Current methods for the treatment of excess weight can involve healthy behavior changes, pharmacotherapy, and surgical interventions. Many individuals are able to lose some degree of weight through behavioral changes; however, they are often unable to maintain their weight loss long-term. This is in part due to physiological processes that cannot be addressed through behavioral changes alone. Bariatric surgery, which is the most successful treatment for excess weight to date, does result in physiological changes that can help with weight loss and weight maintenance. However, many patients either do not qualify or elect to not have this procedure. Fortunately, research has recently identified changes in neurochemicals (i.e., orexigens and anorexigens) that occur during weight loss and contribute to weight regain. The neurochemicals and hormones may be able to be targeted by medications to achieve greater and more sustained weight loss. Two medications are approved in adjunction to lifestyle management for weight loss in Canada: orlistat and liraglutide. Both medications are able to target physiological processes to help patients lose weight and maintain a greater amount of weight loss than with just behavioral modifications alone. Two other weight management medications, which also target specific physiological processes to aid in weight loss and its maintenance, a bupropion/naltrexone combination and lorcaserin, are currently pending approval in Canada. Nonetheless, there remain significant barriers for health care professionals to prescribe medications for weight loss, such as a lack of training and knowledge in the area of obesity. Until this has been addressed, and we begin treating obesity as we do other diseases, we are unlikely to combat the increasing trend of obesity in Canada and worldwide. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 6 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Malta | 1 | 17% |
| United States | 1 | 17% |
| Unknown | 4 | 67% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 5 | 83% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 1 | 17% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 60 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 60 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Bachelor | 9 | 15% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 8 | 13% |
| Student > Master | 7 | 12% |
| Researcher | 6 | 10% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 3 | 5% |
| Other | 6 | 10% |
| Unknown | 21 | 35% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Medicine and Dentistry | 11 | 18% |
| Nursing and Health Professions | 6 | 10% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 4 | 7% |
| Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science | 3 | 5% |
| Sports and Recreations | 3 | 5% |
| Other | 8 | 13% |
| Unknown | 25 | 42% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 24. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 24 October 2019.
All research outputs
#1,579,525
of 25,584,565 outputs
Outputs from Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity: Targets and Therapy
#79
of 1,182 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#31,069
of 331,783 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity: Targets and Therapy
#2
of 9 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,584,565 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 93rd percentile: it's in the top 10% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,182 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 9.8. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 93% of its peers.
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