Managing obesity like any other chronic condition. Long-term therapy may reduce comorbidity as well.

Patients often seek help from their primary care physician for weight loss, so familiarity with pharmacologic options and their risks is important. Anorexiants have been available for decades and are relatively safe. Orlistat and sibutramine are two of the newer medications that patients may have heard about in television, newspaper, and magazine advertising. In addition, patients often ask for advice regarding various herbal or nonprescription medications for weight loss. In this article, the authors help physicians prepare to address these questions.