Merck & Co.s experimental diet pill, developed using research on marijuana, may curb the munchies and lead to Weight Loss, a study says.Patients taking the pill, taranabant, lost an average of 6 to 12 pounds, depending on dose. Those given a placebo lost about 3 pounds during the 12-week study, published today by the journal Cell Metabolism. The research is in the second of three phases of testing needed for U.S. marketing approval.

About 31 percent of Americans over the age of 20 have abnormally high body fat, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. The drug targets a receptor found in the brain and gastrointestinal tract discovered through study on marijuana, the researchers wrote.

“It’s known that when you smoke marijuana, which is a natural chemical that stimulates the receptor, the marijuana has beneficial effects on nausea,” said Steven Heymsfield of Merck, the study’s head researcher. The effect on the receptor, called CB1, explains why, he said.

Unlike marijuana, taranabant blocks the CB1 receptor, suppressing appetite. Side effects include anxiety, nausea, vomiting and frequent bowel movements, according to the study. All were more pronounced in the higher doses.

Larger studies will be done to determine the specific profile of the side effects, Heymsfield said. A bigger trial, the third phase of marketing tests, will end this year, he said.

continue reading "Merck Pill Derived From Pot Research Curbs"

Sanofi-Aventis  said on Tuesday the European Commission had endorsed the positive opinion of the European Medicines Evaluation Agency (EMEA) for its anti-obesity drug Acomplia (rimonabant) to include type 2 diabetes trial results into the European label (section 5.1). The update is based on the results of the SERENADE study, which showed rimonabant 20 mg significantly improved glycemic control in newly diagnosed naive type 2 diabetic patients, the statement said.

The study also demonstrated that rimonabant 20mg had additional benefits on cardio-metabolic risk factors beyond diabetes.

A GROWING number of middle-aged Australians are joining a “calorie restriction” movement in a drastic bid to live for longer.

They believe eating about 20 per cent less than the recommended daily intake will extend their lifespans and help them avoid getting sick.
Evidence shows animals given fewer calories, or kilojoules, have longer life expectancies than those that eat an average amount.
Calorie restriction may also reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes and some cancers.
However, critics warn people who drastically restrict their diets may be more likely to develop eating disorders, nutritional deficiencies and fertility problems.

continue reading "Eat less - live long"

…over a billion people worldwide are overweight or obese, making the anti-obesity drug market big business. An estimated $1.2 billion was spent on anti-obesity drugs worldwide in 2005….. (bbc news)

“The purpose is not just to achieve weight-loss but to reduce health risk factors”
______________Dr Colin Waine

From Thanksgiving turkey to Christmas goose to New Year’s champagne, chances are you’re already embarking on a season of hefty eating. Could you stop yourself, even if someone paid you to?

We no longer have to fatten up to face winter scarcity, but the tradition of stuffing ourselves with seasonal delights continues. Holiday weight gain tends to be small–an average of a pound a year, according to one study–but it sticks with us and is a leading cause of obesity later in life. A little holiday overindulgence can lead to years of health problems later on. But we overeat anyway. One economist is actually suggesting cash incentives as a way to get people to shed pounds.

In Pictures: What Fat Costs America

Six in 10 people in the United States are overweight, with a third crossing the boundary into obesity. The extra weight leads to at least 100,000 deaths annually. Obese people are at a much higher risk for heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, arthritis and some cancers.
continue reading "What Fat Costs America"

Danish study warns on safety of Sanofi’s Acomplia

Patients taking the Sanofi-Aventis anti-obesity drug Acomplia have well over double the risk of depression and anxiety, researchers said, adding to the bad news for a drug already linked to suicidal thoughts.

Danish researchers reviewed four studies featuring 4,105 patients and found that people taking 20 milligrams per day of the drug were 2.5 times more likely to discontinue treatment due to depressive disorders and three times more likely to stop because of anxiety than those who received a placebo.

The findings published in the Lancet journal follow a U.S. advisory panel decision in June that the drug should not be approved in the world’s largest drugs market because it may increase suicidal thoughts and depression.

“Taken together with the recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration finding of increased risk of suicide during treatment with rimonabant, we recommend increased alertness by physicians to these potentially severe psychiatric reactions,” Arne Astrup of the University of Copenhagen and colleagues wrote.
continue reading "Warning from Reuters"