iCARDIO Alliance Global Implementation Guidelines for the Management of Obesity 2025 - Focus on prevention and treatment of cardiometabolic disease
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Disclaimer: The Global Implementation Guidelines (the “Documents”) represent the views of its authors. They were produced after careful consideration of the scientific and medical knowledge and the evidence and related economic issues that may impact implementation of therapies, as well as the main guidelines on the topic, available at the time of their publication. The iCARDIO Alliance, respectively its Partner Organizations and the TMA, are not responsible in the event of any contradiction, discrepancy, and/or ambiguity between the Documents and any other official recommendations or guidelines issued by other bodies in particular in relation to good use of healthcare or therapeutic strategies. Health professionals are encouraged to take the Documents fully into account when exercising their clinical judgment, as well as in the determination and the implementation of preventive, diagnostic or therapeutic medical strategies. On the other hand, the Documents do not override the individual responsibility of health professionals to make the appropriate, accurate and individual decisions in consideration of each patient’s health condition. These decisions should be taken in consultation with their individual patient and, where appropriate and/or necessary, the patient’s caregiver. The Documents do not exempt health professionals from taking into full and careful consideration the relevant official updated recommendations or guidelines, issued by the competent public health authorities that govern them. It is also the health professional’s responsibility to verify the applicable rules and regulations relating to drugs and medical devices at the time of prescription.
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There are a number of guidelines on how to manage obesity, but inconsistencies in healthcare access, varying infrastructure, resource constraints and diverse local practices restrict their global applicability. This underscores the need for universal recommendations that address the unique challenges faced by patients and healthcare providers worldwide. Our Global Guidelines emphasize the incorporation of novel therapies, while integrating standards of care with the most up-to-date evidence to enable clinicians to optimize obesity management. Context-specific recommendations tailored to individual patient needs are highlighted, providing a thorough evaluation of the risks, benefits, and overall value of each therapy, aiming to establish a standard of care that improves patient outcomes and reduces the burden of hospitalization in this susceptible population. These Global Guidelines provide evidence-based recommendations that represent a group consensus considering the many other published guidelines that have reviewed many of the issues discussed here, but they also make new recommendations where new evidence has recently emerged, and – most importantly – also provide recommendations on several issues where resource limitations may put constraints on the care provided to patients living with obesity. Such “economic adjustment” recommendations aim to guide situations when “Resources are somewhat limited” or when “Resources are severely limited”. Hence, this document presents a comprehensive update to obesity management guidelines, thereby aiming to provide a unified strategy for the pharmacological, non-pharmacological, and invasive management of this significant global health challenge that is applicable to the needs of healthcare around the globe.
Diabetes Research Centre, Ulster University, UK
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