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Updated: Jul 10, 2025
12:09
Studying Food Reward and Motivation in Humans
Published on: March 19, 2014
23.4K
Seeking satiety: From signals to solutions
Matthias H Tschöp1, Jeffrey M Friedman2
1Helmholtz Munich and Technical University Munich, Munich, 85758 Germany.
Science Translational Medicine
|November 22, 2023
Summary
Obesity treatments have evolved from ancient, ineffective advice to modern, highly effective therapeutics. Recent breakthroughs in understanding appetite control offer new ways to manage body weight.
Area of Science:
- Endocrinology
- Neuroscience
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Obesity treatment historically relied on lifestyle modifications like diet and exercise, with limited success.
- Ancient remedies for obesity, such as those from Hippocrates, focused on caloric restriction and physical activity.
- Despite persistent recommendations, traditional obesity management strategies have shown limited long-term efficacy.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review recent advancements in the molecular and neural control of appetite and body weight.
- To highlight the development of novel, highly effective therapeutics for managing obesity.
- To discuss the potential for these new medications to revolutionize obesity management.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of recent scientific publications.
- Analysis of research on the molecular and neural pathways regulating appetite.
- Examination of clinical data on novel obesity therapeutics.
Main Results:
- Significant progress has been made in understanding the complex biological mechanisms underlying appetite regulation.
- Highly effective pharmacological agents for weight management have been developed.
- These new therapeutics offer a paradigm shift, potentially enabling physicians to manage obesity akin to hypertension control.
Conclusions:
- A deeper understanding of appetite regulation has paved the way for innovative obesity treatments.
- Emerging therapeutics represent a major advancement in the clinical management of obesity.
- The future of obesity management is shifting towards precision medicine and pharmacotherapy.
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