The Hazardous Weight Loss Pill

Overview:

We are growing more and more overweight even as we obsess about our appearance and particularly about staying thin. But this isn't just a matter of appearances: obesity (weight that is 20% above normal for your height) is thought to contribute to a wide range of health problems, including diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. As per statistics from the National Institutes of Health, 65% of American adults are considered obese or overweight. This number is up from 33% of adults in 1980, a significant increase in such a short period of time. The overweight problem continues with our children as well. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 30% of children between the ages of 6 and 17 are overweight, up from 15% in the late 1970s. Children who have overweight parents tend to be overweight themselves, and overweight children tend to have weight problems as adults.

Weight loss pills are generally recommended to those people having body mass index (BMI) greater than 30. Each year, weight loss pills (popularly referred as the slimming-pills) worth billions of dollars are sold worldwide. But still the moot question remains: Is it is safe to consume weight loss pills to treat obesity? In the early 90s, prescription weight loss pills like fenfluramine and phentermine were used in combination, called Fen Phen, for losing the excess fat. However, in November 15, 1997 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the withdrawal of fenfluramine and dexfenfluramine, the contents making up Fen Phen, as they were found to cause serious heart valve problems.

Types of Medications:

1. Anti-appetite (anorectic drugs): This group of weight loss pills includes amphetamine, phentermine, fenfluramine etc. Although it is not clear how these medications work, but they are believed to have a direct effect on the satiety center located in the brain, as a result of which, the appetite is suppressed. These drugs may yield some positive results in the beginning, but soon give rise to dangerous side effects. Most of these weight loss pills are banned in United States and Canada.

2. Some weight loss pills like phenformin, metformin etc. work by reducing the sugar-level in the blood. These drugs cause acidosis and problems in the blood circulation system. These medications were banned in United States in 1977.

3. Laxative Drugs: These weight loss pills act in the most unnatural and callous manner, by simply eliminating the foods from the body, in the form of excretion, before it gets absorbed. Patients subjected to these drugs eventually become victims of malnutrition and their gastrointestinal tract becomes feeble and uncontrollable.

4. Diuretics: These medications drain off water and fluids from the body, thereby creating a delusion of weight loss. They have proved to be utterly ineffective in the long term.

5. Other prescription weight loss pills include sibutramine that makes you feel full sooner, and orlistat that prevents the fat calories consumed, from being absorbed in the intestines.

Summary:

Obesity is generally a predicament of the affluent society. It is the result of surplus consumption of sweet and processed foods, accompanied by the lack of adequate physical activity. Thus, the primary cause of obesity is incorrect lifestyle. The conventional approach to weight problems, for instance, focusing on fad diets or weight loss tablets, may leave you with just as much weight and the additional burden of infirmity. Keep in mind, medications cannot substitute dieting and exercise. No matter what the commercials promise - weight loss pills are largely ineffective and can cause serious side effects. Therefore, the use of these drugs in the treatment of obesity is absolutely undesirable.

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