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New Pill May Make Weight Loss Safer

More research is needed, though; still no silver bullet

By Henry J. Fishman, M.D.
ConsumerAffairs.com

September 27, 2007

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Israeli researchers are touting yet another new weight loss pill which promises a thinner you with no sweat.

According to recent research, a pill called Histalean, can help you shed a few pounds in as little as three months without a whole lot of side effects, by controlling your appetite in your brain.

Dr. Nir Barak of Tel Aviv University’s Sackler School of Medicine calls his new formulation Histalean. It's based on betahistine, an approved drug marketed worldwide for the treatment of vertigo. Betahistine has been available to health authorities for over 30 years.

Betahistine is believed to block receptors in the brain -- the H1 and H3 receptors -- that are connected to one’s sense of fullness and desire to eat fatty foods, Barak said. It has been used for treatment by more than 100 million patients suffering from vertigo and dizziness in Canada and Europe, Barak said.

Barak says the repurposed pill, Histalean, quells the desire to consume fatty foods, and the effects have been most pronounced in women.

With more than 60 percent of American women overweight and with nearly a third falling into the category of obese and at greater risk of cancer, heart disease and diabetes, there's certainly a need for a new "magic" cure.

But it will take more years of research to prove the safety and effectiveness of Barak's discovery. Until then remember, no matter what drug you take, there is no silver bullet for weight loss. You have to lose it the old fasioned way -- with exercise and a healthy low calorie diet.

About the study

Barak was quoting results from a recent Phase II clinical trial in the U.S. It found that women under the age of 50 who took Histalean for 12 weeks lost 7 times the weight of those taking a placebo. None of the 281 patients, males and females aged 18-65, complained of any serious side effects, researchers said.

The trial, completed this August, was supervised by U.S. weight-loss guru Dr. Robert Kushner.

The recent results were based on a double-blind, placebo-controlled study on people with a Body Mass Index ranging from 30 to 40. (A BMI of 30 and above indicate obesity.) The study was conducted at 19 investigation sites across the U.S. over a 12 week treatment period. The subgroup of high-dose Histalean-treated women lost an average of 2.91% of their weight versus placebo group that lost only 0.4 %.

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