Skip to main content
02/10/2025

A new guideline co-led by Vall d'Hebron proposes a change in the pharmacological approach to obesity based on improving health and reducing complications

Dra. Andreea Ciudin

Dr. Andreea Ciudin

02/10/2025

The work represents a paradigm shift in the clinical approach to this chronic, multifactorial disease, based on the clinical context of each patient and not only on weight loss.

Dr. Andreea Ciudin, coordinator of the Comprehensive Obesity Treatment Unit at Vall d'Hebron University Hospital and principal investigator of the Diabetes and Metabolism group at Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR), has co-led a study with a panel of international experts to create the first European algorithm to guide health professionals in the personalised pharmacological treatment of obesity. The work, the result of collaboration with members of the European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO), has been published in two articles in the journal Nature Medicine. It was also presented at the 32nd European Congress on Obesity (ECO).

The project, co-led by Dr. Ciudin as co-chair of the EASO Obesity Management Working Group, consisted of a meta-analysis of the clinical trials conducted to date on the approach to obesity. According to the results, the team has created a practical algorithm that proposes a personalised pharmacological treatment, adapted to the clinical context of each patient, overcoming the classical view focused only on weight loss or body mass index (BMI).

The work shows the benefits of approaching obesity as a chronic and multifactorial disease, with multiple manifestations and associated complications. “This algorithm represents a paradigm shift: we don't think about weight loss, but focus on improving the patient's actual health and preventing or remission of associated complications”, says Dr. Ciudin.

The document distinguishes between two major clinical situations, in which the therapeutic target is different. On the one hand, patients with excess fat that generates mechanical complications, such as sleep apnoea or knee osteoarthritis; and on the other, patients with metabolic complications, such as type 2 diabetes, fatty liver or cardiovascular disease. This personalised approach, which is already being applied at the Vall d'Hebron Comprehensive Obesity Treatment Unit, is aimed at improving patients' health and quality of life.

The guide, developed from clinical experience and the most recent scientific evidence, serves as a reference for health professionals and establishes recommendations on the drugs to be used depending on each specific case. It also highlights the importance of this type of algorithm being reviewed and updated periodically to reflect advances in research.

As the authors of the paper explain, this new treatment model, although it requires an investment in some therapies, represents a significant long-term reduction in the healthcare costs associated with the complications of obesity, and helps to prevent its progression towards serious or chronic diseases.

Female leadership for the benefit of patients

The algorithm was coordinated by Dr. Andreea Ciudin at Vall d'Hebron and Dr. Barbara McGowan at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in the UK, both co-chairs of the EASO Obesity Management Working Group. The study involved obesity experts from different disciplines and from nine countries.

"We are particularly proud that this project has been led by two young women experts. It will undoubtedly have an impact that will benefit patients”, concludes Dr. Ciudin.

Dr. Andreea Ciudin has co-led this guide, the first for personalised pharmacological treatment of obesity

Related news

The results of a phase 3 clinical trial show that orforglipron reduces body weight by an average of 11% and improves cardiovascular risk factors.

Dr. Maria Llorián-Salvador, from the Diabetes and Metabolism Research Group at VHIR, is leading this project to identify new therapies for this inherited disease that causes progressive vision loss.

The European project, in which Vall d'Hebron participates, will favor personalized diagnosis and innovative therapeutic strategies in patients with the disease.

Related professionals

Rosario Pardo  Diaz

Rosario Pardo Diaz

Research technician
Diabetes and Metabolism
Read more
Patricia Bogdanov Baruj

Patricia Bogdanov Baruj

Postdoctoral researcher
Diabetes and Metabolism
Read more
Alba Rojano Toimil

Alba Rojano Toimil

Predoctoral researcher
Diabetes and Metabolism
Read more
Palmas Candia, Fiorella Ximena

Palmas Candia, Fiorella Ximena

Research technician
Diabetes and Metabolism
Read more

Subscribe to our newsletters and be part of the Campus life

We are a world-leading healthcare complex where healthcare, research, teaching and innovation go hand in hand.

This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.