The effects of orlistat treatment interruption on weight and associated metabolic parameters

Due to the insurance companies' restrictions, partial reimbursement of orlistat treatment in the Czech Republic is restricted to obese diabetics with BMI >35 who are concurrently treated pharmacologically for dyslipidaemia, hypertension or ischaemic heart disease, with compulsory interruption of minimum 3 months, only after which the treatment can be resumed for another year. We evaluated 32 patients with Type 2 diabetes who underwent such course of treatment, with view of establishing whether the interruption has any detrimental effect on the success of the therapy in terms of weight loss and diabetes compensation. The treatment was well tolerated, producing statistically significant decrease in BMI and triglyceride levels during the first year, which was maintained in the second year. Fasting glucose levels were improved at nearly-significant level. The interruption in treatment between the first and second year had no marked detrimental effect, although the relative failure of the second treatment year to bring further benefits to the patients can certainly be at least partially attributed to this treatment gap.