obesity pill

[thegreenmeanie]

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7843061.stm

The obesity pill, orlistat, has been licensed to be sold over-the-counter at chemists in the EU.

The pill, which works by blocking the absorption of fat in the body, will be available at a lower dose than doctors generally prescribe.

It is aimed at adults with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 28 or more.

One expert said it may help some people with weight loss but they would have to take a conscious decision to eat less fatty foods.

I find this stuff interesting. I see the point of stuff like this, but people have to help themselves before they can depend on a pill or any other program to work with them. I hope this isn't another one of these pills that people think will solve all their problems.

I was huge in high school and I lost about 80lbs. I did it with diet, proper portions, and exercise. (It didn't hurt that I worked at a carwash in the florida heat either ).

To me these pills will never work unless someone really makes up their mind they want to lose weight. If something like this will be able to help I am all for it. We have a very bad weight problem in this country. I see at every day at the hospital. It will be interesting to see what they find out with it in the EU.

[TW]

When I got sick, I ended up gaining over 100#. I went on a diet about two years ago, and lost 85#.

Then, I quit smoking, and I've put about 45# back on in the last year, but I haven't started smoking again, fortunately.

Now, this spring, I intend starting over again on the weight loss, and plan on taking off about 100# over a two year period of time.

How? Cut back on portions, reduce the fatty food intake, and quit the darned snacks!

But, I can tell people this. It was harder to quit smoking but easier to not smoke again than it is to lose weight.

[miracle]

Side effects
The primary side effects of the drug are gastrointestinal-related, and include steatorrhea—that is, oily, loose stools; because orlistat blocks some of the dietary fat from being absorbed, the fat is excreted unchanged in the feces—, fecal incontinence, frequent or urgent bowel movements, and flatulence. GlaxoSmithKline recommends that Alli users be cautious of the possible side effects until they "have a sense of any treatment effects". To minimize these effects, foods with high fat content should be avoided; the manufacturer advises consumers to follow a low-fat, reduced-calorie diet. Oily stools and flatulence can be controlled by reducing the dietary fat content to somewhere in the region of 15 grams per meal.

According to Roche, side effects are most severe when beginning therapy and may decrease in frequency with time; this is supported by the results of the XENDOS study, which found that only 36% of people had gastrointestinal adverse effects during their fourth year of taking orlistat, whereas 91% of study subjects had experienced at least one GI-related side effect during the first year of treatment. It has also been suggested that the decrease in side effects over time may be associated to long-term compliance with a low-fat diet.

The side effect profile of orlistat led US consumer group Prescription Access Litigation (PAL) to award its first 2007 "Bitter Pill Award" to GlaxoSmithKline—the 'With Allies Like This, Who Needs Enemas?'


And just think of the calories one would shed by sprinting to the restroom every thirty minutes, or so. Not to mention the dramatic increase in one's anerobic conditioning that would take place because of all that sprinting??? Sounds like a win-win to me!

[thegreenmeanie]

LOL that is true.

Weight loss is tough, but nothing is more difficult than keeping it off. That's why it is a life style change. Good luck to you TW, you did it once you can do it again.

[WhatUSaid]

I'm looking for a pill to take all my problems away.

[TW]

WUS,

Realizing how good you have it compared to someone else might do the trick.

If you think you're suffering from depression, get help immediately. I can't stress how important it is. I know. I had to go down that road, and you shouldn't even consider going it alone. I'm speaking from experience.