Weight Loss Drugs

About

Weight loss drugs, also called anti-obesity medications or diet pills, are medicines that help to reduce weight.

Obesity requires long-term treatment to promote and sustain weight loss. Use of prescription drugs may be appropriate for some people.

These medicines help regulate weight either by altering appetite, increasing the rate of metabolism or inhibiting absorption from the digestive tract.

Prescription weight loss medicines include orlistat, phentermine, lorcaserin, and phenteramine plus topiramate. Others like sibutramine and rimonabant have been banned in many countries.

Common side-effects include high blood pressure, palpitations, restlessness and insomnia. Long-term use of weight loss drugs can cause addiction and tolerance. Also, the use of most diet pills in combination with each other has not been well studied.

Weight loss drugs are not a cure-all for obesity. Their use should be combined with exercise and improved diet to lose and maintain weight successfully over long term.

Reference for Weight Loss Drugs

1. Coutinho W. The first decade of sibutramine and orlistat: a reappraisal of their expanding roles in the treatment of obesity and associated conditions. Arq Bras Endocrinol Metab. 2009;53/2: 262-70.
2. Tziomalos K, Krassas G, Tzotzas T. The use of sibutramine in the management of obesity and related disorders: An update. Vascular Health and Risk Management 2009:5 441�452
3. Leite C, Mocelin CA, Petersen GO, Leal MB, Thiesen FV. Rimonabant: an antagonist drug of the endocannabinoid system for the treatment of obesity. Pharmacological Reports 2009, 61:217-224
4. Questions and Answers about FDA�s Initiative Against Contaminated Weight Loss Products- (http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/QuestionsAnswers/ucm136187.htm)