An association between appetite-suppressant drugs and primary pulmonary hypertension is reported by Abenhaim et al. This important finding requires careful assessment, because the prevalence of obesity is increasing and sustained weight reduction has been difficult to achieve without drug treatment.
Obesity results from a complex interaction of genetic, behavioral, and environmental factors.
Because exercise, diet, and behavioral modification alone are usually not sufficient to maintain long-term weight loss, there has been renewed interest in drug therapy. Obesity is the second leading cause of preventable death in the United States, exceeded only by cigarette smoking. It is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, and some cancers in both men and women, and it contributes to 300,000 deaths annually in the United States. Obesity affects 58 million people in the nation, and its prevalence is increasing. These figures translate into 1260 excess lives lost per million women per year as a consequence of an average weight difference of only 13 kg.