According to a published piece produced by a team of doctors, rising obesity levels could lead to a need for prescription drugs being issued at higher doses in instances where standard issues are not sufficient to fight infection and, thus, there is a chance of eventual drug resistance developing. Their study appears in the Lancet medical journal and, alongside it, an editorial which stresses that additional research is required to ensure doctors are aware of drug dose variance needs.

In terms of the UK population, obesity - defined as an accumulation of body fat to the extent that human health might be compromised - affects around 25 per cent of adults - 10 per cent up on 1993 statistics. The situation is more marked in the US, where the percentage of obese or overweight adults within the overall population is approximately 35 per cent.

Drug Prescriptions: Obesity

On this basis - the American and Greek doctors behind the new study contest - the idea of standardised drug prescriptions for all patients - obese or not - is archaic. Both size and body fat levels are factors that can impact on how the body responds to antibiotics, they add. On the flipside, thin patients might end up in situations where they are taking antibiotics at a higher dosage than is needed and, therefore, experience unnecessary side-effects.

"We believe that tailoring the dosing of antimicrobial agents in adults to the physical characteristics of individual patients could be an important way to achieve maximum effectiveness and safety of antimicrobial therapy", the doctors say. "Patients who are obese can no longer be regarded as a small group, and merit special consideration with respect to the appropriate dosing of antimicrobial agents."

Prescription Guidelines

They add that, since bodyweight calculations are already used when antibiotics are prescribed to children, transposing this kind of scheme into adult prescription guideline terms shouldn't be too challenging.

"Patients are getting taller and larger and it does seem right that patients are given the appropriate strength of drug", Royal College of GPS Chair, Professor Steve Field, told the BBC. "However, this might cost a lot of money because pharmaceutical companies would have to provide different doses of medication."