ABSTRACT
Anorectic medication BACKGROUND In light of the health risks of morbid obesity and the poor success rates of diet and exercise alone, there has been great interest in the pharmacologic therapy of obesity. Historically, pharmacologic doses of thyroid hormone and amphetamines have been employed. More recently, there have been a number of agents developed specifically to reduce appetite. One of the first was phentermine (Adipex – Gate Pharmaceuticals, Fastin – King Pharmaceuticals, Ionamin – Allscripts Healthcare Solutions), a noradrenergic central nervous system stimulant, approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1959 for use as an appetite suppressant. In 1973, fenfluramine (Pondimin – American Home Products Corporation), a sympathomimetic amine that promotes serotonin release and blocks its uptake, was approved for short-term use as a single agent in the treatment of obesity. Most recently, dexfenfluramine (Redux – Wyeth Ayres Pharmaceuticals), the dextroisomer of fenfluramine, was approved in 1996 as a single drug agent for obesity. Its activity is more specific for brain pathways than is fenfluramine.
