Till now, we have not explored many areas where the side effects of some drugs or medications administered for the cure of some disease in increasing the chances of over-weight or obesity. Though there are many drugs available in the market that are prescribed for the use of patients who suffer from obesity; however, we have little research done or data available on the fact that certain drugs can cause over-weight. Here is a research that shows that some kinds of antipsychotic drugs can spur the weight gain.

It has been reported by the researchers that in some cases, patients taking these drugs end up gaining so much weight that they develop serious complications such as heart disease and diabetes. We know that heart diseases and diabetes is readily related to obesity.

“We’ve now connected a whole class of antipsychotics to natural brain chemicals that trigger appetite. Our identification of the molecular players that link such drugs to increased food intake means there’s now hope for finding a newer generation of drugs without the weight-gain side effects,” said Dr. Solomon H. Snyder, professor of neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore. The study conducted by the professor and his team is expected to be published online in this week’s issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

It would be good to note here that many drugs are noted for their side-effects; however, quite a few among them may also cause the obesity problem, which is of course a major one and should be avoided at any cost. We can easily see that this is crucial research and can pave way to certain other discoveries. We expect that other scientists and researchers would take clue from it and would explore more drugs that can cause obesity; and of course, would find some solution also.

We have heard about many diet pills and programs that are approved by FDA–some of them work and some of them just do not realize the results that they foresee or claim. Lately, we have also heard many remarks and criticism of medicine industry, which has just swallowed the money of people in the name of treatment of obesity and overweight; however, many people have felt that they just wasted their money through the treatment. However, the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved another drug that can be used for the treatment of overweight. Orlistat is the name of the drug that can be used as an over-the-counter for adults. It is noticeable here that the drug was approved for prescription in 1999, and it has also been told that the drug will retain prescription status at higher doses for the medical treatment of obesity.

The FDA has advised the people who are planning to use this drug–FDA states that the drug on its own will not work, but people will need to lower their calorie intake and adopt a program that involves exercise. The manufacturer for Orlistat will be GlaxoSmithKline, the biggest pharmaceutical company of the world, as the brand Alli. The drug will be available for people over 18 years of age in 60 mg capsule form. The drug can be taken up to 3 times a day with meals that contain fat.

It is clear that the importance of drugs and medication is still approved by FDA, but as is clear from the comments of FDA itself that the drug in itself can’t get you lose weight–you will need to adopt a healthy life style that includes lowered amount of calorie intake and physical exercise. The basics of avoiding being overweight are always there to be associated with the medication that you might choose to take.

You would not be surprised to know that there are many experiments and trials going on to test the efficacy of drugs that are supposed to treat obesity and overweight problems. In one could turn out to be very successful drug release, Britain’s GW Pharmaceuticals Plc announced on Tuesday that human trials of an experimental treatment for obesity derived from cannabis are scheduled to begin in the second half of this year. It is noticeable here that cannabis is commonly associated with stimulating hunger.

It has been also reported that several other companies, such as Sanofi-Aventis, are also working on new drugs that will switch off the brain circuits–the circuits that are responsible for making people hungry when they smoke cannabis. However, the company GW Pharmaceuticals Plc is saying that it has been successful in deriving a treatment from cannabis that could help suppress hunger. It is quite a startling statement, but we can’t comment on this issue till we get the results of human trials that the company has just scheduled.

We can easily understand the urgency and the importance of these trials, as many companies world over are trying to find a drug that can cater to the needs of tackling obesity with any side-effects. However, drugs that are be used in human medication need proper monitoring and have to undergo a series of steps that sometimes take many years to be completed. So, we can guess that it is a good step forward from the company, but we can’t comment on the application and the efficacy of the drug till we get some clear results of the trials. We expect that something positive will come out from these trials, for, the world needs something special in case of drugs dealing to cure obesity. We will surely need to wait and watch what happens and how it comes out.

Obesity is a major problem in the world today, and no wonder that many scientists and research teams are gearing to get a solution for this problem. In their efforts that are intended to achieve a comprehensive solution, many anti-obesity drugs and programs have been developed. However, their efficiency and potency needs better data about the long-term effects before a more widespread use of these therapies. This has been indicated in a Canadian study.

It is clear that if the potency and efficiency of these drugs and therapies could be proven beyond doubt, the importance will be increased in the future due to the immanent need of these drugs. 

However, the current study has indicated that the data about these anti-obesity drugs and programs is limited and is not comprehensive, which could be used by one and all–the University of Alberta Hospital in the Lancet has stated that data on drugs already in use is limited particularly over cardiovascular outcomes of their use. The study was conducted by a team that analyzed articles published over the last six years on three drugs–sibutramine, orlistat, and rimonabant. It has been found that many doctors use these drugs carefully, as there are no wonder cures, but these drugs can be helpful in certain proper and conducive circumstances. 

The team has indicated that there is no data available about the long-term impact of these drugs, and there was also a very little told about the possible side-effects that these drugs can make.

We can clearly see that the research team has raised a good point which is well reasonable and contains some ground–doctors and health specialists do need the proper data about the long-term effects of these drugs, so that they can prescribe these drugs to their patients without any fear of side-effects.

In the wake of growing concerns over obesity and the inefficacy of drugs to treat this problem, many companies are coming ahead to give their best shot–no wonder that we have got something to listen fro Pfizer. The company says that two of its experimental obesity drugs have successfully reduced body weight, which makes the drugs to be compared to Acomplia–the famous drug used to treat obesity in Europe.

The weight loss achieved by these two drugs is around 4-6%, which is considerable in any amount of weight. It should be noticed that Acomplia has been approved for its use in Europe and is waiting to be cleared in US; and according to Pfizer, the results shown by their two drugs are as well as Acomplia could produce. The name of the drug is CP-945,598, which works through the same mechanism as Acomplia; and another one works through a different mechanism called MTP inhibtion.

The debate about obesity is growing hotter and hotter every day, and we can easily sense the urgency among the health or pharmaceutical companies about the discovery of new drugs that are potent to respond to the needs of patients who are suffering from obesity. The weight loss achieved by these drugs is a potential measure for their efficacy, which would be very helpful to make them popular among the crowd that is looking to have more variety of drugs that they can try.

Many have shown dissatisfaction over the efficacy of weight loss drugs and programs that are geared to provide solution to obesity. But till now, there is no drug in American market that can be given the status of a solution provider–customers have received very marginal or no benefit from the ones that there in the market. With the statements that Pfizer is making, we can expect that something beneficial will happen in the times to come.