The future of obesity research

As endocrinologists, we view better treatment as the goal of obesity research. The ideal obesity treatment would reduce body fat substantially, with preferential loss from the visceral compartment, and preserve lean tissue with a minimum of side effects. Obesity has been recognized as a chronic disease since 1985. Chronic diseases recognized before obesity may predict the future of obesity research. Initial treatments of chronic diseases commonly arise from empirical observations. These observations often stimulate basic research into the physiologic mechanisms responsible. Such cross-fertilization between the clinic and basic science is desirable and expected. As more is learned about the physiology of obesity, treatments can be expected to use more downstream mechanisms with less unwanted side effects, the reliance on surgical treatments can be expected to decline, and molecular approaches are likely to play an increasingly important role. With a better physiologic understanding of obesity, advanced clinical endpoints will become more important and molecular approaches are likely to play a more important role in discovery and treatment. Due to the availability of molecular approaches, obesity treatment is expected to advance faster than chronic disease research of the past.