STEP-ping Up the Game for Weight Management

Authors:
Teney Mathew, PharmD
Jason Zupec, PharmD, BCACP

Reviewers:
Amy Heck Sheehan, PharmD, BCPS
Joel Marrs, PharmD, BCPS, BCACP

Citation: Wilding JPH, Batterham RL, Calanna S, et al. Once-Weekly Semaglutide in Adults with Overweight or Obesity. N Engl J Med. 2021;384:989-1002.

The Problem:

More than two-thirds of adults in the United States are overweight or obese — thus, obesity is, by far, the most common preventable health-related problem seen in practice today.¹ Obesity is associated with several comorbidities, and weight reduction leads to positive outcomes in many diseases, including hypertension, hyperlipidemia, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.¹ Studies have shown that a weight loss of 10% improves cardiovascular risk and outcomes.² Moreover, in prediabetes, weight loss of 7-10% can prevent the onset of diabetes.³ Current pharmacological options for weight loss are only modestly effective.  Currently, available agents do not achieve at least a 7% placebo-subtracted weight loss in most patients, even when combined with lifestyle modification. Thus, we need additional anti-obesity medications that can produce persistent, clinically meaningful weight loss.