Leo Chiang DOT COM

With the current generation of youths and adults so easily pressured to conform to society’s increasingly unrealistic standards of physical attraction, fueled by celebrity role models, it’s no wonder many people are using supplements to help them attain their goals of “perfection”. This Friday Health Check touches on some of the risks of taking these short-cut fat-loss remedies. Personally, I prescribe a food intake that mirrors the level of activity in your lifestyle, regular exercise within your ability and plenty of rest. Drugs are often just used as an excuse to justify that soft drink you had at lunch.

How Safe Are Weight-loss Drugs?

America is in the midst of a major obesity epidemic, with two-thirds of the population either overweight or obese. Drugs that could safely help people lose weight would have a significant impact on public health. Effective diet drugs used to be available (amphetamines, phentermine and fenfluramine) but were pulled from the market years ago by the Food and Drug Administration because of severe side effects such as heart valve damage, psychosis and addiction. Current weight-loss drugs include orlistat (Xenical), sibutramine (Meridia) and rimonabant (Acomplia). The first two are approved in the United States, while the third is approved in Europe. In a review of literature, Canadian researchers assessed the effectiveness and side effect of these drugs. Each produces only modest weight loss and none is superior to the others. All have side effects that can be uncomfortable or dangerous; orlistat can cause gastrointestinal distress and diarrhea, sibutramine increases blood pressure and rimonabant can trigger insomnia, depression and psychological disturbances. Not much data exists on the long-term safety of these drugs. The authors concluded that not enough is known about the mechanisms of obesity to prescribe drugs to overweight people for extended periods. (Lancet, 369:71 - 77, 2007)

Posted on June 22nd, 2007 by Leo
Filed under: Friday Health Check