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A concerted long-term regimen of diet and exercise have to
be combined with an anti obesity drug. National Institute
of Diabetes and Digestive, Kidney Diseases and US Food and
Drug Administration and Medline plus provide a guide to prescription
weight loss pills . There are quite a few anti-obesity drugs
recommended by FDA. Colman of FDA says, "On average,
individuals who use weight loss drugs lose about 5 percent
to 10 percent of their original weight, though some will lose
less and some more,".
The prescription diet
pills have been found and recognized to be effective even
for the people who have difficulty losing weight through diet
and exercise alone.
The weight loss drugs normally work as appetite
suppressant except for Xenical (orlistat). Xenical is
the first among a new class of anti-obesity drugs known as
lipase inhibitors, which was approved by the FDA in 1999.
Fat in our diet is broken into fatty acids through the action
of Lipase. Xenical blocks the lipase function thus reducing
the absorption of dietary fat by 30 percent.
The undigested fat being unabsorbed by the body is eliminated
thus adding far lesser amount of calories than normal. This
may help in controlling weight. Diarrhea, cramping, intestinal
discomfort, flatulence and oily stools are the side effects
of Xenical.
Meridia (sibutramine), which was approved by the FDA almost
a decade back, works by pumping up the levels of some appetite
suppressant brain chemicals. The prescription diet pills increase
the blood pressure and heart rate. Hence it is contraindicated
for patients of high BP, who have a history of heart disease,
congestive heart failure, irregular heartbeat, or stroke.
Headache, dry mouth, constipation and insomnia are other side
effects of Meridia.
A number of other drugs that have been approved by FDA have
side effects that make them unsafe for patients of heart disease
and circulatory disorders.
"The best effect you're going to get is with a concerted
long-term regimen of diet and exercise. If you choose to take
a drug along with this effort, it may provide additional help,"
says David Orloff, M.D., director of the FDA's Division of
Metabolic and Endocrine Drug Products," he sums up. "There
is no magic pill for obesity," he concludes
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