title: Obesity in adults.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  About one third of the US population and one quarter of the UK population are obese, with increased risks of hypertension, dyslipidaemia, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, osteoarthritis, and some cancers. Fewer than 10% of overweight or obese adults aged 40 to 49 years revert to a normal body weight after 4 years. Nearly 5 million US adults used prescription weight-loss medication between 1996 and 1998, but one quarter of all users were not overweight.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a systematic review and aimed to answer the following clinical questions: What are the effects of drug treatments in adults with obesity? What are the effects of bariatric surgery in adults with morbid obesity? We searched: Medline, Embase, The Cochrane Library, and other important databases up to September 2010 (Clinical Evidence reviews are updated periodically; please check our website for the most up-to-date version of this review). We included harms alerts from relevant organisations such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found 39 systematic reviews, RCTs, or observational studies that met our inclusion criteria. We performed a GRADE evaluation of the quality of evidence for interventions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this systematic review, we present information relating to the effectiveness and safety of the following interventions: bariatric surgery versus medical interventions, biliopancreatic diversion, diethylpropion, gastric bypass, gastric banding, mazindol, orlistat (alone and in combination with sibutramine), phentermine, sibutramine (alone and in combination with orlistat), sleeve gastrectomy, and vertical banded gastroplasty.
authors.affiliation: Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Delaet
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schauer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004053:Diethylpropion; D015390:Gastric Bypass; D015391:Gastroplasty; D006801:Humans; D009765:Obesity / Q000601:surgery; D009767:Obesity, Morbid / Q000601:surgery; D010645:Phentermine; D015431:Weight Loss / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D010645:Phentermine; D004053:Diethylpropion