By Carey Rossi on December 13, 2010 in
Last week an advisory panel of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended that a new weight-loss drug, Contrave, be approved. The drug is a combination of two other pharmaceuticals used widely for other health conditions -- the antidepressant bupropion (aka Wellbutrin and Zyban), which is also used for smoking cessation, and the heroin overdose antidote naltrexone (aka Revia), which also curbs alcoholic cravings.
Study shows Contrave gets results
Studies found that Contrave helps increase weight loss efforts. A clinical trial published in June in the journal Obesity found that subjects lost an average of 9.3 percent of their weight while taking Contrave for 56 weeks along with diet and exercise compared with 5.1 percent weight loss for those taking a placebo. Another trial of more than 1400 subjects published in the Lancet revealed that, with diet and exercise, those taking the drug lost between 5 percent and 6.1 percent (depending on the dose) of their body weight compared to those taking the placebo, who lost only 1.3 percent of their body weight. With these modest losses is it worth the side effects of possible headache, constipation, nausea and a modest rise in blood pressure?
To put this into perspective, subjects participating in weight loss studies that use only diet and exercise lose approximately 10 percent of their bodyw eight. (Sorry, The Biggest Loser isn't the norm.) It's this golden percentage that most experts say requies dieters to re-evaluate their routines and make changes to accommodate their new metabolic rates. Specifically, you either need to start eating less, exercise more, or both.
Why use a drug at all?
So, if diet and exercise alone can get the job done, why does there need to be a Contrave at all? It's simple: America is fat, and doctors need tools to help patients with a BMI over 30 lose the excess weight before the weight causes further health problems. The recommended approval of Contrave comes after the FDA shot down two other weight loss drugs -- Onexa and Lorquess - even though they provided greater weight loss benefits than Contrave, which seems to have fewer health risks. The advisory panel requested that more extended clinical trials be conducted to determine whether there are any longer-term effects on the heart.
Stay tuned. The FDA is expected to rule on official approval at the end of January, but if history tells us anything, it will give Contrave the thumbs up since its advisory board did.