Research
Hormonal
Antiobesity medications (AOMs) improve cardiovascular outcomes, hypertension, and metabolic liver disease in older adults, but their use requires caution due to an increased risk of sarcopenia.
For older adults, AOMs are a powerful tool to treat obesity-related health issues like heart disease and diabetes. However, because losing weight can also lead to muscle loss (sarcopenia), these medications should be used cautiously and monitored closely by a doctor, often alongside lifestyle changes.
GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
AOMs can improve cardiovascular outcomes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, metabolic liver disease, obstructive sleep apnea, and chronic kidney disease. Weight loss in older adults using AOMs is associated with an increased risk of sarcopenia.
Why this rating
Based on a review of multiple RCTs and guidelines, though direct data in older adults is limited for some drugs.
Source
Antiobesity Medications for Older Adults—the New, the Good, the Bad, and the Unknown
Anna Pendrey et al. · Obesity · 2025
DOI 10.1002/oby.70029
narrative_reviewCited 3×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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