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by D. Rucker, et al
As a medical publication aimed primarily at health care professionals and policy makers, the British Medical Journal abides by a strict code of ethics regarding competing interests and research practices.… This article on weight loss drugs gets its findings through a technique called meta-analysis. Rather than conducting a new study, the authors have compiled and analyzed the research that has already been done on the subject of three popular weight loss drugs: orlistat (Xenical, Alli), sibutramine (Meridia, Reductil) and rimonabant (Acomplia). The authors examine 30 double-blind placebo controlled studies lasting between one and four years to compare the drugs' effectiveness and adverse effects. All three are found to produce modest weight loss along with some improvement in the effects of obesity. According to this study, orlistat is the least effective for weight loss but its side effects are limited to gastrointestinal issues. Rimonabant and sibutramine are associated with almost 50% more weight loss than orlistat, but rimonabant is found to increase the risk of mood disorders and sibutramine is linked to an increase in blood pressure and pulse rate.
by R. Saper, D. Eisenberg, R. Phillips
This is a study published by doctors from Harvard Medical School who researched the efficacy of 21 common dietary supplements. The doctors evaluate products according to safety, efficacy and quality and… then issue a clinical stance label of either "recommend," "caution and monitor" or "discourage." None of the supplements in the study receive a "recommend." The only supplement combination that is found to be effective for weight loss is ephedra plus caffeine, and it is noted that ephedra is of course banned for use in weight loss supplements. Many supplements that are commonly found in diet pills -- CLA, green tea extract, chromium, L-carnitine, pyruvate, hydroxycitric acid -- are issued labels of "caution and monitor" due to the fact that there is conflicting evidence regarding their safety and efficacy. Guar gum, spirulina and chitosan are discouraged as they are found to be ineffective.
by Editors of Consumer Reports
This free article on the Consumer Reports website focuses on the diet drug Xenical and its new over-the-counter little brother, Alli. Consumer Reports quotes a doctor from UCLA Medical Center who reports… that compliance with Xenical is very poor due to its side effects and negligible benefit. UCLA Medical Center was involved in the original trials of Xenical. Consumer Reports analysis shows that prescriptions for Xenical dropped 65 percent between 2001 and 2005. The article quotes Public Citizen Director Dr. Sidney Wolfe, who opposed the approval of Alli. The article also includes summaries of some clinical trials involving Alli.
by Editors of Consumer Reports
This is a list of eleven supplement ingredients that have been linked to health risks ranging from life threatening, with cases that are heavily documented, to theoretical. For each ingredient, Consumer… Reports lists both reported uses and associated risks. An accompanying article discusses the FDA safety alerts regarding 13 supplements that turned out to contain prescription drugs; some contained the prescription weight loss drug Meridia.
by Editors of Consumer Reports
In this free article on the Consumer Reports website, editors take a brief look at bitter orange and green tea extract, two ephedra replacement ingredients that are both stimulants. Bitter orange increases… heart rate and constricts blood vessels like the now FDA-banned ephedra. Consumer Reports names several diet supplements that contain bitter orange as well as several compounds that contain it and formulations that heighten its effects, one of which is the combination of bitter orange plus green tea extract. Green tea extract has some preliminary evidence to suggest efficacy when it comes to the treatment of obesity according to Consumer Reports, but it can exaggerate the effects of other stimulants and cause caffeine-like overdrive symptoms and, in excess, potentially worse problems.
by Editors of Public Citizen
Public Citizen's press release makes a compelling case to the FDA for pulling Roche's Xenical from the shelves. They argue that the drug has been shown to cause a proliferation of aberrant crypt foci (ACF)… cells in the colon. ACF cells are believed to be precursors to colon cancer. Public Citizen bases its claims on a pharmacology review of Roche's own data and an independent confirmation that orlistat causes ACF in the colon of rats. The bottom line here, says Public Citizen, is that the FDA is allowing a drug to remain on the market that causes potentially a lot of damage for very little gain. Public Citizen has a strong track record, having warned consumers about the dangers of ephedra and Vioxx prior to regulatory action by the FDA. The one bizarre twist brought to light by this petition is that the current head of the FDA, Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, was formerly the head of the National Cancer Institute, which has funded many of the studies on colorectal cancer that Public Citizen uses as its basis for argument.
by Elizabeth Bernstein
This article takes a look at drugs prescribed for weight loss which are not primarily indicated for that purpose. It begins with the example of a woman who found success on a prescription cocktail of two… antidepressants and an anti-seizure medication after years of failed dieting attempts. This so-called "off-label" prescribing is legal and can be safe if done under a doctor's care. All of these medications -- used to treat seizures, attention deficit disorder, diabetes, depression or narcolepsy -- have potential side effects, and doctors' positions differ about prescribing off-label for weight loss. It is a question of whether the bigger problem is being overweight or the potential side effects of a prescription drug.
by Editors of the Federal Trade Commission
This press release outlines the FTC's settlement in four separate cases with weight loss supplement makers CortiSlim, TrimSpa, Xenadrine EFX and One-A-Day Weight Smart, totaling $25 million in fines for… false and misleading advertising claims. The supplement makers are charged with making claims that are not backed by scientific evidence in all cases and some are charged for paying their endorsers large undisclosed sums of money. Going by the numbers, the bulk of the $25 million was paid by Xenadrine EFX and CortiSlim.
by Editors of Consumer Reports
by Randolph E. Schmid
by Editors of Consumer Reports
Many of the health articles on the Consumer Reports website are free, including this brief report on the diet drug Meridia. The article describes briefly how Meridia works and outlines the Public Citizen's… case against it, citing the 49 deaths from cardiac arrest, heart attack and heart arrhythmia in people taking sibutramine, as well as 124 hospitalizations. Abbott Laboratories, who manufactures Meridia, says that obesity studies show significantly higher death rates than the fatalities linked to use of Meridia. Consumer Reports points out that, either way, the nine pounds per year weight loss that Meridia produced in clinical trials is not likely to justify the health risk.
by S.B. Garcia, L.T. Barros, A. Turatti, F. Martinello, P. Modiano, A. Ribeiro-Silva, M.V. Vespucio, S.A. Uyemura
This is one of the studies referenced by Public Citizen in its petition to the FDA concerning the removal of orlistat from the market. The purpose of the study was to verify the effects of orlistat on the… formation of aberrant crypt foci (ACF) in the colons of rats. Male Wistar rats received either a standard diet or a high fat diet, supplemented or not with orlistat (200mg/kg chow) and two doses of the carcinogen dimethyl-hydrazine (25mg/Kg). After 30 days, orlistat was associated to a significant increase in the number of colonic ACFs and cell proliferation in DMH-treated animals, independently of the high fat diet.
by Salynn Boyles
WebMD reports upon a study published in New England Journal of Medicine in which obese people who combined the diet drug Meridia with changes in eating habits and exercise lost more weight then those who… took the drug alone or made only lifestyle changes. Meridia and Xenical, the two prescription weight loss medications approved by the FDA, are meant to be used in conjunction with a reduced-calorie diet and exercise, but people often apparently dispense with that advice. This study shows that the effects of diet and exercise have a greater impact on weight loss than the drug Meridia, as patients on drug therapy only lost an average of eleven pounds over the course of a year, whereas those on behavior therapy only lost an average of 14.7 pounds. Subjects taking both Meridia and participating in behavior therapy lost an average of 26.6 pounds.
by Leah D Whigham, Abigail C Watras and Dale A Schoeller
This meta-analysis of CLA research presents a useful discussion and reconciliation of the discrepancy between the results of animal and human tests for this substance. When considered together, the 18… studies analyzed are found to indicate modest weight loss in humans when compared to no supplement or a placebo. The study also finds CLA's effectiveness peaks in the first six months, after which the improvement begins to level off.
by David Schardt
This article proceeds to take Tonalin CLA (and like products) to task for their extravagant claims. A researcher from McGill University is quoted as saying that, while CLA has been shown to produce fat loss… in animals, there's no evidence that it does so in human beings - the evidence in human studies has been inconsistent. Also, studies have shown potential risks of increased chances of developing heart disease and diabetes. The article concludes with the recommendation to stay away from CLA until it has been shown to be conclusively safe and effective in humans.
by Editors of ConsumerAffairs.com
by J. Zenk et al.
This paper reports on a 2003 double-blind placebo study of the commercial weight loss product Lean System 7. Subjects receiving treatment were given three capsules of Lean System 7 twice a day and… instructed to follow a reduced-calorie diet and exercise regimen. The study lasts eight weeks with 47 adults originally enrolled and 35 completing the study. Lean System 7 was found to reverse the effect of the decrease in resting metabolic rate (RMR) that usually happens when a person consumes fewer calories. The group taking the weight loss product also reduced their hip circumference by nearly 2 cm more than the placebo group.
by J. Zenk et al.
by Truman Lewis
ConsumerAffairs.com reports upon the negative reaction to Alli's FDA approval, citing outrage by Public Citizen director Sidney Wolfe, M.D., and skepticism by ConsumerAffairs.com's own health advisor Henry… Fishman, M.D. Fishman is quoted as saying that Alli can "help you shed a few pounds with diet and exercise changes but causes digestive problems and is not for everyone." Wolfe has been an outspoken critic of Xenical and openly opposed the approval of Alli. He says that it causes precancerous lesions of the colon and that its approval "shows a profound lack of concern for the public's health."
by Editors of ConsumerAffairs.com
This news item gives the findings of a survey by the University of Connecticut's Center for Survey Research and Analysis (CSRA) in which 3,500 Americans were polled about their perceptions of and experience… with dietary supplements. Some key findings: More than 60 percent believed that dietary supplements were tested and proven to be safe. Survey respondents believed that weight loss supplements were safer but less effective than prescription weight loss drugs; 64 percent believed that products were required to display warnings about potential side effects when in fact they are not.
by Eric Steinmehl
CNN weighs in on what's safe and what's not when it comes to diet supplements. Citing experts from Georgetown University, UCLA Medical Center and University of Mississippi as its sources, CNN gives the okay… to caffeine, EGCG (an antioxidant found in green tea), chromium, conjugated linoleic acid, 5-http, and L-Dopa (a.k.a L-tyrosine). Getting a "do not buy" note are: cascara, dandelion, ephedra, garcinia and hoodia.
by Mayo Clinic Staff
In this balanced article, Mayo Clinic specialist Donald Hensrud, M.D. discusses the pros and cons of taking the over-the-counter fat-blocking drug Alli for weight loss. Although it doesn't go into much… depth, the article is a good basic starting point for those who are considering using the drug. Dr. Hensrud estimates the amount of extra weight dieters could lose with Alli at around three pounds per year, and he cautions users to keep in mind the potential for gastrointestinal side effects.
by Patsy Hamilton
by Kwan H. Lo
The author, who owns a dietary supplements review site, basically says that supplements are safe if you follow their dosing instructions and that it's up to consumers to educate themselves as to what's in… the supplement. He does say that blue green algae contains natural toxins called microcystins that can cause liver damage and liver tumors and that spirulina is the only one strain of blue green algae known to be microcystin-free. He also references the case of a mother who accidentally overdosed her daughters on vitamin A, believing she was improving their eyesight. The toxic levels of vitamin A caused liver failure in one girl and acute liver damage in the other.
by Jane Morris
This article gives a basic rundown of phentermine, Meridia and Xenical - how they function and what kind of results they produce. The author points out that diet pills are only intended for persons who are… clinically obese (BMI of 30 or more) and that most people regain any weight lost on diet pills once they cease taking them. There is a note of caution about the availability of cheap phentermine over the Internet - the author suggests crosschecking the pill name on www.fda.gov to make sure it's approved before buying.
by Christi Hanson
This article points to a couple of studies that have shown CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) to be effective in fat loss. One study, published in The Journal of Biological Sciences, showed that CLA shrinks… human fat cells. However, it also showed that CLA prevents fat cells from taking up glucose and fatty acids, which may result in increased risk of heart disease and diabetes. The second study, reported in The Journal of Nutrition, showed that CLA aided in fat loss and possibly helped individuals maintain a lower weight.
by Contributors to Amazon.com
by Contributors to Drugstore.com
by Editors of UltimateFatBurner.com
It seems that UltimateFatBurner.com contains reviews of nearly every diet supplement out there. The site does not compare and contrast supplements in a meaningful way, but if you go there to research a… particular product, this site gives a seemingly honest take -- breaking the pill down by what's in it, what it does or is supposed to do, and offering up user reviews. However, there is no information here about who is behind this website or what their qualifications might be.
by Editors of Consumer Diet Review.com
This site says that a team of volunteers and experts conducts the research and surveys that lead to their reviews and recommendations of diet pills. They choose two hoodia products -- Hoodia 911 and… HoodiElite as their top two diet supplements. Phentermine is the only prescription weight loss pill on their Top 10 list. However, there is no information on this site about who's making these recommendations, and no discussion of qualifications or expertise.
by Editors of DietPillAdvisor.com
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 Lean System 7-Isatori Advanced Metabolic Support Formula, 120ct (New Improved Formula)  from Amazon.com New: $22.00 In Stock.
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