Kent
Sat, May-31-03, 12:12
The following report indicated a high incidence of diabetes in those taking the drug which doesn't seem like a very good trade-off. The low-carbohydrate diet prevent diabetes are reverses symptoms. Other possible complications could be bowel diseases and Candida because carbohydrates are unlikely to be restricted by those taking the drug. The manufacturer does not claim that the drug cuts heart disease. It only cuts some risk factors for heart disease. They also mentions "lifestyle treatment," but they do not indicate what this is. I wonder what the effect would be without any lifestyle change because many patients may not follow the suggest lifestyle treatment. Where does the major weight change come from, the drug or the lifestyle treatment? The article leaves more questions than answers.
Obesity Drug Cuts Risk Factors for Heart Disease. (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=2854250)
Fri May 30, 2003 05:38 PM ET
By Patricia Reaney
HELSINKI (Reuters) - An obesity drug is twice as effective as dieting in reducing weight in obese patients and cuts their risk of heart disease, according to new results from a long-running study reported on Friday.
Orlistat, produced by Switzerland's Roche Holding AG under the brand name Xenical, works by hindering the body's ability to absorb fat.
In the longest clinical trial to assess the effectiveness and safety of an obesity drug, patients taking orlistat had fewer symptoms of metabolic syndrome -- a cluster of three or more factors that increase the risk of heart disease.
Those factors include overweight or obesity, high blood pressure, early indications of diabetes, abnormal cholesterol levels and high waist measurement -- or typical beer belly.
"We know that we are in the middle of an obesity epidemic. We are definitely in a global epidemic of type 2 diabetes and as a third consequence we are facing an epidemic of patients having multiple risk factors known as the metabolic syndrome," said Dr. Jarl Torgerson, head of the obesity unit at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden.
The Xendos study, led by Torgerson, mainly aimed to see if it would be possible to prevent or postpone type 2 diabetes in obese patients. The biggest risk for type 2 diabetes is excess weight.
"We could show that Xenical plus lifestyle treatment had a better diabetes prevention effect than lifestyle alone," Torgerson said in an interview.
Nearly 14 percent of people in the diet group developed type 2 diabetes but only 9.8 percent taking the drug suffered from the disease.
"These study results show that Xenical boosts the beneficial effects of weight loss in people with metabolic syndrome," said Torgerson, who presented the results at the 12th European Congress on Obesity.
In the study of 3,304 patients over four years, people taking the drug lost 14.08 pounds in weight, compared to 6.38 pounds among those who were just dieting.
The drug group also reduced their waistlines by 2.44 inches, compared to 1.52 inches for the dieters, and had a greater reduction in blood pressure.
More than a billion people worldwide are overweight or obese, according to the World Health Organization. It is a serious risk factor for heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, muscle and respiratory problems and certain types of cancer.
Kent :wave:
Obesity Drug Cuts Risk Factors for Heart Disease. (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=2854250)
Fri May 30, 2003 05:38 PM ET
By Patricia Reaney
HELSINKI (Reuters) - An obesity drug is twice as effective as dieting in reducing weight in obese patients and cuts their risk of heart disease, according to new results from a long-running study reported on Friday.
Orlistat, produced by Switzerland's Roche Holding AG under the brand name Xenical, works by hindering the body's ability to absorb fat.
In the longest clinical trial to assess the effectiveness and safety of an obesity drug, patients taking orlistat had fewer symptoms of metabolic syndrome -- a cluster of three or more factors that increase the risk of heart disease.
Those factors include overweight or obesity, high blood pressure, early indications of diabetes, abnormal cholesterol levels and high waist measurement -- or typical beer belly.
"We know that we are in the middle of an obesity epidemic. We are definitely in a global epidemic of type 2 diabetes and as a third consequence we are facing an epidemic of patients having multiple risk factors known as the metabolic syndrome," said Dr. Jarl Torgerson, head of the obesity unit at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden.
The Xendos study, led by Torgerson, mainly aimed to see if it would be possible to prevent or postpone type 2 diabetes in obese patients. The biggest risk for type 2 diabetes is excess weight.
"We could show that Xenical plus lifestyle treatment had a better diabetes prevention effect than lifestyle alone," Torgerson said in an interview.
Nearly 14 percent of people in the diet group developed type 2 diabetes but only 9.8 percent taking the drug suffered from the disease.
"These study results show that Xenical boosts the beneficial effects of weight loss in people with metabolic syndrome," said Torgerson, who presented the results at the 12th European Congress on Obesity.
In the study of 3,304 patients over four years, people taking the drug lost 14.08 pounds in weight, compared to 6.38 pounds among those who were just dieting.
The drug group also reduced their waistlines by 2.44 inches, compared to 1.52 inches for the dieters, and had a greater reduction in blood pressure.
More than a billion people worldwide are overweight or obese, according to the World Health Organization. It is a serious risk factor for heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, muscle and respiratory problems and certain types of cancer.
Kent :wave: