Weight Loss Pills

Weight loss pills and do they work?

The pharmaceutical marketplace sees "Obesity" as "the trillion dollar disease". That's the estimated profit that a successful weight loss drug can expect to make.

So we ask the question, are pharmaceutical companies getting closer to delivering weight loss pills that really works? In other words, a weight loss pill that is not only safe, but is effective at solving the problem of "Obesity"? Well, the truth of the matter is, and from my research, No, they haven't.

Weight Loss Pills To Reduce Obesity.

It's true, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have approved a small number of weight loss pills i.e. Meridia and Xenical for long-term use in the treatment of obesity (BMI 30 or more).

But evidence gathered from clinical trials of these weight loss pills, does suggest that the effectiveness of treating obesity with these types of dieting pills is far from impressive, with total annual weight loss tending to be in the range 8-20 pounds. And furthermore, the highest weight loss was from patients who participated in supervised trials involving the use of a combination of drug treatment, diet, exercise and counseling. Which does make it difficult to know the precise effect of the medication alone.

By comparison, less well supervised obesity drug trials, do tend to have a higher drop out rate as well as a reduced weight loss. Also, the longer the trial period used, the lower the compliance was, and the lower the weight loss that was achieved.

In-short, while they are helpful to some patients, weight loss pills have not yet given us the answer to obesity, and long-term weight loss, especially when you factor into the equation things like the costs involved. Should we be surprised? The answer to that is clearly no, because after all, even bariatric surgery is no guarantee of maintaining a long term weight loss, that is  unless patients fully comply with the necessary post-operative diet imposed. Indeed, some obesity experts even claim that medical intervention, like weight loss pills, drugs or surgery, are almost by definition doomed to fail, for the very simple reason that they take responsibility and control away from the patient. According to this view of course, it's only when a patient accepts full responsibility for their own lifestyle and eating habits, that they have a really good chance of achieving a normal body weight in the long term. Unfortunately, this view of course, satisfies no one, it certainly doesn't satisfy the pharmaceutical companies who need to make a profit. It doesn't satisfy medical practitioners, who need to give hope to their obese patients, and finally, it doesn't satisfy consumers, who want to achieve "push the magic button" instant weight loss, and without having to change their eating habits or lifestyle. In short, there is a huge global demand for weight loss pills that work, but a viable pill or drug has yet to be developed.

Highly Recommended - Fat Loss 4 Idiots - Click Here

Weight Loss Pills

Part 1 of a 4 part article - Part 2 is here - Natural Weight Loss Pills