Genetics may influence weight-loss drug's effectiveness

Doctors studied patients taking the drug Meridia for weight loss found. Overall, the participants did lose weight, but those with a favorable genetic profile shed the most pounds.

The study from the Mayo Clinic discovered an interaction between the medication and the patients' genes.

Researchers say the genes help regulate brain chemicals controlling appetite, the same chemicals that are targeted by Meridia allowing the drug and the DNA to work together to increase weight loss. They say the findings give a glimpse into the future of personalized medicine, where the first medical test physicians give their patients may just be for DNA.

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