Letter by Hendricks Regarding Article, “Obesity and Cardiovascular Disease”

To the Editor:A recent Clinician Update by Apovian and Gokce,1 using a case report as an introduction, provides a succinct review of the relationship between obesity and cardiovascular disease, treatment of obesity, and the cardiovascular benefits of weight loss. The authors suggest that the only effective treatment for obesity is surgical and that current medical treatment is inferior, flawed by dangerous medicines. In their discussion of obesity drugs, Apovian and Gokce impugn phentermine. Readers of Circulation should be aware that a majority of American obesity treatment specialists do not share this negative view of current medical treatment for obesity nor do they share this view …