Unit 2- Drug dosing in the obese patients

CLINICAL PHARMACOKINETICS & PHARMACOTHERAPEUTIC DRUG MONITORING

UNIT-2

Design of dosage regimens

Drug dosing in the obese patients

 

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Drug dosing in the obese patients

Obesity has turned into a global epidemic that was earlier

present in developed countries but has started to spread

in developing countries as well. According to WHO, 1.6

billion people are overweight out of which 400 million

are obese. Obesity itself can lead to various metabolic,

cardiovascular, and/or pulmonary disorders. Obesity is

defined by the WHO based on the BMI of a person. BMI

is calculated using weight in kg and height in meters.

The BMI is calculated by the following formula:

BMI= weight (kg)/height (m)2

According to WHO, obesity is classified by the values

obtained by the BMI. If a person’s BMI is <18.5kg/m2

they are considered underweight, 18.6-24.99kg/m2 is

normal, and >25kg/m2 is overweight. The overweight is

again stratified into 4 classes as shown in Table

Table1.Classification of overweight based on BMI

Overweight BMI

Pre-obesity 25 to 29.99 kg/m2

Obesity class l 30 to 34.99 kg/m2

Obesity class ll 35 to 39.99 kg/m2

Obesity class lll >40 kg/m2

When the BMI is more than 40kg/m2, it’s known as

morbid obesity. Accurate dosage regimens for obese

patients are still vague. The pharmacokinetics of each

person varies with a change in weight.

Thanks to JASPER VICTORIA LEELARANI.