Diabetes treatment occurs 15 times more than obesity management.

New research has shown that clinicians prescribe anti-diabetes medication 15 times more than those for obesity. Obesity itself is a well-known risk factor for developing diabetes, with 90% of T2DM patients being overweight or obese. In the USA there are six different drugs approved for the treatment of obesity, however, of the 46% eligible for this treatment, only 2% are receiving it. The researchers of this study were aiming to determine to what extent obesity was being treated, as it is an obvious step for the prevention and treatment of diabetes.

The authors of the study call for more counselling in the availability of obesity medications for clinicians, whilst also a demonstration of a ‘greater urgency in the treatment of obesity’. The study itself was performed retrospectively and analysed data from 2012 to 2015. Dr Charles Billington, former president of The Obesity Society explained that ‘we are missing the opportunity among patients with serious obesity-related illness to provide the full range of proven, safe and effective therapies.’ He went on to explain that people with obesity should have access to evidence-based care and the provision of obesity medication on a larger scale would help to achieve this.