The hunger hormone released mainly by the stomach, whose levels rise before meals, is ghrelin.
Missing Word
ghrelin
Ghrelin is secreted mostly by the stomach and stimulates appetite. Its levels rise with fasting and after weight loss, which helps explain why lost weight is hard to keep off.
Category: Obesity Basics
Question 2
The hormone released by fat cells that signals the brain that energy stores are adequate and reduces appetite is leptin.
Missing Word
leptin
Leptin is made by adipose tissue in proportion to fat mass and acts on the hypothalamus to reduce hunger. Many people with obesity have high leptin but respond poorly to it.
Category: Obesity Basics
Question 3
When adipose tissue grows by increasing the number of fat cells rather than enlarging existing ones, the process is called hyperplasia.
Missing Word
hyperplasia
Hyperplasia is an increase in cell number. Adipose tissue expands by hyperplasia and by hypertrophy, the enlargement of existing fat cells.
Category: Obesity Basics
Question 4
The anticonvulsant that is paired with a stimulant appetite suppressant in an extended-release capsule for chronic weight management is topiramate.
Missing Word
topiramate
Topiramate is an antiepileptic that adds appetite suppression and satiety to the effects of phentermine in the combination capsule. It brings risks of fetal harm, eye problems and cognitive slowing.
Category: Phentermine-Topiramate
Question 5
The caffeine-containing seed extract found in many herbal weight-loss products, which should be avoided by people with hypertension or heart rhythm problems, is guarana.
Missing Word
guarana
Guarana is a stimulant because of its caffeine content, which is often hard to judge on the label. Alone it has not been shown to produce meaningful weight loss.
Category: Supplements and Herbals
Question 6
Naltrexone-bupropion reduces appetite by acting on the brain's appetite-regulating center, the hypothalamus, and on its reward pathway.
Missing Word
hypothalamus
The hypothalamus contains the centers that control hunger and satiety. Bupropion stimulates appetite-suppressing neurons there and naltrexone blocks the opioid feedback that would blunt that effect, while both also act on the mesolimbic reward system that drives food cravings.
Category: Naltrexone-Bupropion
Question 7
Heat production by the body that burns calories, which many weight-loss supplements claim to increase, is called thermogenesis.
Missing Word
thermogenesis
Thermogenesis is energy spent producing body heat. Supplements marketed as fat burners claim to boost it, but evidence for meaningful weight loss is limited and stimulant products carry cardiovascular risk.
Category: Supplements and Herbals
Question 8
The synthesis of new fatty acids and triglycerides for storage in fat cells, which conjugated linoleic acid supplements are claimed to reduce, is lipogenesis.
Missing Word
lipogenesis
Lipogenesis is fat formation from excess dietary energy. Conjugated linoleic acid is marketed to reduce it and promote fat breakdown, but supplements are unregulated adjuncts and can interact with drugs such as tamoxifen.
Category: Supplements and Herbals
Question 9
The cells that make up adipose tissue and store energy as triglyceride are adipocytes.
Missing Word
adipocytes
Adipocytes are fat cells. They store triglyceride and release hormones such as leptin, so adipose tissue is an active endocrine organ, not just storage.
Category: Obesity Basics
Question 10
Phentermine is a stimulant chemically related to amphetamine, which explains its potential for misuse and its controlled-substance status.
Missing Word
amphetamine
Amphetamine is the parent stimulant that phentermine resembles in structure and action. That relationship is why phentermine is a Schedule IV drug and why patients with a history of substance misuse need caution.
Category: Anorexiants
Question 11
An altered sense of taste, a common adverse effect of the phentermine combination capsule, is called dysgeusia.
Missing Word
dysgeusia
Dysgeusia is a distorted or unpleasant sense of taste. It is one of the most commonly reported effects of phentermine-topiramate, along with paresthesia, dizziness, insomnia, dry mouth and constipation.
Category: Phentermine-Topiramate
Question 12
The eating pattern based on the traditional cuisine of countries such as Greece and Italy, rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, fish and olive oil, is the Mediterranean diet.
Missing Word
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean diet emphasizes plant foods and unsaturated fats, and it is one of the dietary patterns encouraged as first-line lifestyle therapy for weight and cardiometabolic risk.
Category: Weight Management Principles
Question 13
The cluster of abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, high blood glucose and abnormal blood lipids that raises cardiovascular risk is called metabolic syndrome.
Missing Word
metabolic
Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of risk factors, including central obesity, elevated blood pressure, elevated glucose, high triglycerides and low HDL, that raises the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. Weight loss improves each component.
Category: Obesity Basics
Question 14
Orlistat is contraindicated in cholestasis, a condition in which the flow of bile from the liver is reduced or blocked.
Missing Word
cholestasis
Cholestasis is impaired bile flow. Orlistat further reduces fat absorption, which bile normally aids, so it is contraindicated in cholestasis and in chronic malabsorption syndrome.
Category: Orlistat
Question 15
Semaglutide and other GLP-1 receptor agonists aid weight loss partly by acting on the brain to increase satiety, the feeling of fullness that ends eating.
Missing Word
satiety
Satiety is the sense of fullness that reduces further eating. GLP-1 receptor agonists increase it through brain appetite centers and by slowing gastric emptying, which is also why nausea is common when starting or increasing the dose.
Category: GLP-1 and GIP Agonists