New Diet Pill May Have Benefits Beyond Weight Loss

Everyone wants an easy way to lose weight. That’s why diet pills have been greeted with such enthusiasm over the years. But safe and easy weight loss has been an unfulfilled promise–until now, that is. Rimonabant (Acomplia) may break the curse.
Starting in the 1950s, millions of overweight Americans were prescribed amphetamines to shed a few extra pounds. Although such stimulants were only supposed to be taken for a few months at a time, many respectable housewives became dependent on “speed.��?
During the 1990s doctors began to combine two diet pills that had been around for decades. The combination of fenfluramine and phentermine (“fen-phen��?) seemed to work better than either drug alone. The only trouble was, the combination led to heart valve complications.
About the same time, a new appetite suppressant, Redux, was approved. It too was associated with heart problems and a potentially life-threatening condition called pulmonary hypertension.
Xenical is another prescription weight loss product. It works by blocking the absorption of fat from the digestive tract. A recent FDA panel recommended that this medication be made available over the counter. It is expected to be marketed under the name Alli. The downside: it can cause unpleasant, even embarrassing, digestive tract problems such as flatulence, leakage or loss of bowel control.
With such an uninspiring track record, it is hardly any wonder that Americans are dubious about new diet pills. The claims being made about Acomplia are so extraordinary, it is easy to understand why some people might be skeptical.
The manufacturer, Sanofi-Aventis, is being especially careful to downplay the cosmetic weight-reducing potential of Acomplia. Instead, other benefits are being highlighted.
In two large clinical trials, Acomplia produced metabolic gains beyond those expected from the pounds lost. Good HDL cholesterol rose and bad triglycerides dropped. Insulin efficiency improved and blood sugar levels came down. These positive changes were twice what researchers would have anticipated from the weight loss alone. These metabolic effects may be especially beneficial for people with type 2 diabetes.
But what will really excite millions of Americans is Acomplia’s ability to help people lose weight. After one year on the drug, subjects lost approximately 15 pounds more than those on placebo. In the world of diet pills, such a loss is impressive.
Reported side effects were relatively mild and temporary. Some people reported nausea, diarrhea, dizziness, headache, anxiety and depression.
The buzz on Acomplia is already enormous. Weight loss and improvements in both blood glucose and lipids are exciting enough on their own. In addition, though, investigators are studying whether Acomplia may help smokers quit. There is even some hope that the compound may help people deal effectively with other drug dependencies.
Whether Acomplia will live up to all the hype remains to be seen. The FDA may well approve the drug sometime soon. But it may take time, perhaps even years, to assess long-term safety.