A breakthrough drug which directly targets middle-aged spread could help millions of overweight Britons to lose weight.

一种直接针对中年人发福的突破性药物可帮助英国数百万名超重者减肥。

Slimmers taking the pills lost three times as much weight as those simply trying to diet and exercise, a landmark trial found. The drug also cut the risk of diabetes by a fifth.

这一里程碑式的试验发现，服用这种药片的减重效果是那些单纯依靠节食和运动的减肥者的三倍。这种药物还能让肥胖者罹患糖尿病的风险降低五分之一。

Experts hailed lorcaserin as the most effective weight-loss pill yet, suggesting it could help the two in three adults battling weight problems.

专家称，氯卡色林(Lorcaserin)是迄今为止最有效的减肥药，它可帮助2/3的成年人解决体重问题。

The approach could be “the Holy Grail” in the battle to combat obesity, they said.

这一方法可能是减肥战斗中的“圣杯”。

The US research, which tracked 12,000 obese or overweight adults, found that four in ten of those taking the drug lost a significant amount of weight over the course of a year.

美国的这项研究跟踪了1.2万名肥胖或超重的成年人，结果发现，服用这种药物的人有40%在一年中大幅减重。

On average, slimmers taking the twice-daily pills lost nine pounds - while those who stuck to traditional diet tips shed just three pounds.

平均来说，每天服药两次的减肥者减掉了约9磅，而坚持传统饮食的减肥者只减掉了3磅。

And more than three years after the trial began, they had kept the weight off, the study found.

并且，在试验开始三年多后，他们的体重还一直能保持。

Scientists said the drug was an “important milestone” after decades of failed attempts to to develop effective diet medication, in a bid to combat the growing global obesity epidemic.

科学家们表示，几十年来，他们一直试图开发出有效的减肥药，以对抗日益增长的全球肥胖流行病，但都以失败告终，这种药物是一个“重要的里程碑”。

Until now, drugs which showed early promise have had little success - or been dogged by safety concerns, in particular about potential dangers to the heart.

迄今为止，早期出现有效迹象的减肥药几乎无一成功——或受到安全问题的困扰，尤其是对心脏的潜在危害。

Harvard researchers said their results, presented at the world’s largest cardiac conference, show for the first time that a weight loss drug can cause consistent and sustained weight loss with no such increased risk.

哈佛大学研究人员称，他们在世界最大的心脏学会议上公布的研究结果首次表明，这种减肥药可在不增加此类风险的情况下使体重下降，而且效果是可持续的。

Scientists said the breakthrough was particularly significant, because the drug targets signals in the brain which have been linked to weight gain in middle age.

科学家们表示，这一研究突破尤为重要，因为该药物针对的是大脑中与人到中年时体重增加有关的信号