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Women's Health Group Questions Diet Pill Safety

March 29, 2006

• CDC Launches Obesity Website • Modest Exercise Can Reduce Negative Effects of Belly Fat • Keep The Faith and Lose The Weight? • Families That Eat Together Means Kids Eating Better • New Factor in Teen Obesity: Parents • Possible Drug Target Found for Obesity Treatment • Weight Management Requires "Lifelong Commitment" • Obama Urged to Tackle Obesity • 5 Tips for Eating Right in 2009 • "All You Can Eat" A Ticket to Obesity • Sour Economy May Affect Eating Habits • Fast Food Has Fewer Calories Than Traditional Restaurant Meals • Gene May Make You Crave Fast Food • 'Western' Diet Increases Heart Attack Risk Globally • CSPI Raps Nickelodeon Food Ads • New Study Links Inactivity to Desire for More Food • Researchers Suppress "Hunger Hormone" • Parents Can Shape Childrens' Eating Habits • Overweight Doesn't Always Mean Unhealthy • Exercise in a Pill? • Study: 86 Percent of Americans Could Be Obese by 2030 • Americans Becoming Even More Obese, CDC Says • New Guide Lists Calories in Beer, Wine, Cocktails • Experts Fact-Check 'McDonald's Diet' Story • Dementia Linked To Obesity • Study Ties Obesity, Inflammation to Heart Failure • Doctor Offers Antidote To 'Super-Size Me' Diet • Eating Disorders Widespread Among U.S. Women, Survey Finds • Obesity A More Costly Workplace Health Issue Than Smoking • A 'Healthy Weight' May Not Be So Healthy • Skipping Breakfast May Lead to Obesity • Obesity Blamed for Rising Stroke Rate in Women • Spanish Language TV Linked To Latino Child Obesity • Fast Food+Sedentary Lifestyle=Liver Damage • Artificial Sweeteners Linked to Weight Gain • Mississippi May Ban Restaurant Sales to the Obese • Eat Less or Exercise More? • Researchers Find 'Fat-Burner' Compounds • Obesity Linked to Decreased Seatbelt Use • Low-Calorie Food Prices Surge • Italian Restaurants Serve Up the Fat • Viral Infections May Promote Obesity • Brits Find Obesity Deadlier Than Smoking • Healthy Restaurants May Bring Out Bad Eating Habits • 'Bad Carbs' Not the Enemy, Researcher Argues • New Pill May Make Weight Loss Safer --- • Weight Loss News • Childhood Obesity

In January 2006, a federal advisory panel recommended that the FDA make the weight-loss medication orlistat (Xenical) available without a prescription. Although the FDA usually takes the panel's advice, orlistat's approval is uncertain in the face of rising opposition.

A report by Harvard Women's Health Watch questions the drug's effectiveness in the broader population and has expressed concern about its side effects.

A new weight-loss solution is likely to be popular; two-thirds of adults in the United States are overweight or obese and at risk for major health problems and early death. But Harvard Women's Health Watch says the reasons for weight problems are complex. It says that while no pill can melt away fat or keep the pounds off, for people whose health is at risk, drug therapy may increase the odds of success.

Even though weight-loss drugs have a role to play in medical treatment, their long-term safety is unknown, the group adds. And like all medications, they can pose problems. Orlistat, which inhibits the body's ability to take in fats, can also reportedly interfere with the absorption of certain vitamins.

The National Institutes of Health advises that diet drugs be taken only by severely overweight people who need them for health reasons, and only in combination with lifestyle modifications. For example, one study found that people taking the weight-loss drug Meridia (sibutramine) who also received counseling on diet and exercise lost twice as much weight as those who received either Meridia or counseling alone.

The bottom line: The Harvard Women's Health Watch says that weight-loss drugs can help, but they're not the ultimate solution. The key to long-term weight loss is a lot of effort and isn't easy.

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