A Closer Look: Weight-loss drugs

By Jill U. Adams, Special to the Los Angeles Times

December 13, 2010


For many people who carry excess pounds, lifestyle changes don't do enough or are too hard to maintain day in and day out.

The pharmaceutical industry has been trying to create weight-loss medicines — it is a huge market, after all — but the failures have outnumbered the successes. Dr. Kevin Niswender, an obesity expert at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, says every talk he gives begins with a slide that says: "Pharmacotherapy for obesity has a troubled past — and future."

Part of the problem is that if there's a drug they can take, people wrongly think they can stop the harder work of diet and exercise. Doctors who specialize in treating overweight and obese patients say that, at best, medications should be used as an adjunct to lifestyle change. "If you overeat, you're going to overcome the drug," says Dr. David Heber, who directs the UCLA Risk Factor Obesity Program.

The other problem for candidate drugs has been their safety profile, with cardiovascular side effects a particular issue, Niswender says. The medical rationale for losing weight is to prevent the development of obesity-related health conditions, such as heart disease and stroke. So a weight-loss drug that increases blood pressure is defeating part of its own purpose.

Here's a closer look at the most recent weight-loss drugs to come before the Food and Drug Administration.

Contrave

What it is: It's a combination of two drugs already used for other health conditions: bupropion (Wellbutrin, Zyban), an antidepressant that's also used to help people quit smoking; and naltrexone (Revia), an antidote to heroin overdose that is also used to help curb alcoholic cravings.

Weight-loss results: A study published in the Lancet in August followed 1,453 overweight or obese patients — half of them for more than a year — and found that those on Contrave lost 5% (lower dose) and 6.1% (higher dose) of their initial body weight compared with a 1.3% loss in the placebo group. Another trial published online in June in the journal Obesity that also included training in diet and exercise found an average 9.3% weight loss with the higher dose compared with 5.1% with a placebo.


Read more from source

---

Random Articles

Isochronic Tones vs Binaural Beats - Does isochronic tones reign in superiority compared to binaural beats in terms of brainwave entrainment?

Tava Tea - A green tea wellness blend

Acai Berry Free Trial - Acai berry for weight loss free offer

Weight Loss Spray Curbs Appetite Naturally - MR3 DR Group, LLC., announces its latest innovation in the crowded weight loss field by introducing for the first time in the United States a new technology that it believes will transform the way people approach dieting in the future.

CTS: Fibrous Mineral Linked to Mesothelioma - A naturally-occurring, asbestos-like mineral may be placing residents of North Dakota -- and elsewhere in the U.S. -- at risk for malignant mesothelioma, researchers found.

Healing And Cleansing Of Crystals -  Crystals and gemstones have the power to heal. Some can heal specific parts of our body while others can be effective for different parts. In order to utilize the potency of the crystals, it must first be cleansed.