A new drug could substantially reduce the bodyweight, waist circumference, and risk factors for heart disease in obese people, according to results of a randomised trial published in this week’s issue of The Lancet.
More than 50% of Europeans are currently classified as overweight and up to 20% clinically obese. Yearly, around a quarter of a million deaths in Europe and more than 2.5 million deaths worldwide are weight-related, with cardiovascular disease as the leading cause.
Luc Van Gaal (University Hospital Antwerp, Belgium) and colleagues undertook a trial (RIOEurope) involving 1507 people from Europe and the USA. Participants had a body mass index (BMI) of 30 kg/m2 or greater, or a BMI greater than 27 kg/m2 with abnormal blood fat levels, high blood pressure, or both. They were randomly assigned 5mg or 20mg of a drug called rimonabant, or a placebo once daily in addition to a calorie controlled diet. The treatment groups had similar characteristics. 920 patients (61%) completed the one-year follow-up; 379 in the rimonabant 5mg group, 363 in the rimonabant 20mg group and 178 in the placebo group.