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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 percent 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 Editors of The Obesity Society
This slideshow article provides a great comparison between the major prescription weight-loss drugs: phentermine, orlistat and sibutramine. The article looks at side effects, efficacy and duration of use.… As reflected in the article, The Obesity Society believes that phentermine is less proven than orlistat or sibutramine, since it was approved over 30 years ago when approval standards may have been less stringent.
by Editors of ConsumerLab.com
Although this article is several years old, ConsumerLab.com is one of the few sources that actually test and compare common weight-loss supplements. ConsumerLab.com lists the intended uses and evidence to… support each ingredient, and then details its testing results for each supplement. Some of the diet pills were contaminated with dangerous amounts of lead, and others contained more or less of the active ingredient than listed on the label. Note that this source does not test diet pills for effectiveness.
by Editors of Public Citizen
Public Citizen publishes an extensive database of prescription medications and some over-the-counter supplements. The database is only available to subscribers, but Public Citizen clearly lists the research… on each pill and their recommendations for popular weight-loss medications like Alli, Xenical and Meridia. Public Citizen is very conservative in its recommendations -- it lists many prescription weight-loss medications on their "do not use" list -- and consumer advocates at Public Citizen have petitioned the FDA to pull Roche's Xenical from the market. They argue that the drug has been shown to cause a proliferation of aberrant crypt foci (ACF) cells in the colon, which may lead to colon cancer. Public Citizen has a strong track record, having warned consumers about the dangers of ephedra and Vioxx prior to regulatory action by the FDA.
by Editors of the National Institutes of Health
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 "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 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 Mayo Clinic Staff
by Mayo Clinic Staff
by Editors of ConsumerReports.org
This free article on the Consumer Reports website focuses on the diet drug Xenical and its over-the-counter counterpart, Alli. Consumer Reports quotes a doctor from the UCLA Medical Center who reports that… compliance with Xenical is very poor due to its side effects and negligible benefit. The 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 ConsumerReports.org
This is a list of 11 supplement ingredients that have been linked to health risks, ranging from life threatening to theoretical. For each ingredient, ConsumerReports.org 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 Emily Caldwell
This article summarizes a study conducted by Martha Belury, a professor of nutrition at Ohio State University. Belury tested two dietary oils -- conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and safflower oil -- and found… that over a 16-week period, supplementation with CLA decreased body mass index and total body fat in obese women with diabetes. As the article notes in the fine print, the study received an "unrestricted monetary gift and a dietary oil donation" from Cognis, the manufacturer of Tonalin CLA.
by Sherril Sego
by Editors of the Food and Drug Administration
This warning from the FDA concerns Hydroxycut, a popular weight-loss supplement that has been linked to liver damage. In May 2009, the FDA recalled all forms of Hydroxycut, including liquid caplets, drink… mixes and pills, and warned consumers to stop using the products immediately. The FDA received more than 20 reports of serious liver problems, including jaundice and liver damage. One person died from the resulting liver failure.
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 S.B. Garcia, et al
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. Rats were fed either a high-fat or standard diet, and some received orlistat supplements in addition to two doses of a chemical carcinogen. Those rats that received both the orlistat supplement and the carcinogen showed increases in the ACFs in their colon.
by Salynn Boyles
WebMD.com discusses a study published in The 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 than 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 11 pounds over the course of a year, whereas those on behavior therapy 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 L.T. Bui, D.T. Nguyen, P.J. Ambrose
This abstract describes the findings of a 2006 study on bitter orange conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco. Fifteen healthy adults were given a single dose of a bitter… orange supplement, and had their heart rate and blood pressure monitored before and after taking the pill. The study found that participants had increases in blood pressure and heart rate for five hours after taking the bitter orange supplement.
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 Editors of HealthFacts
by J. Zenk, et al
This journal article reports on a 2003 double-blind placebo study of the commercial weight-loss product Lean System 7, which contains the substance 7-keto. 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 lasted 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 study was financed by iSatori Global Technologies Inc., the manufacturer of Lean System 7.
by Christine Kraus
The study referenced in this article deals with consumer misunderstandings about over-the-counter diet pills. Based on the survey conducted by the University of Connecticut, 65 percent of the 3,500… respondents believed that over-the-counter (OTC) diet pills are tested and "proven to be safe," and 54 percent believed these products were approved by the FDA. In reality, OTC diet pills are neither regulated nor proven to be safe by the FDA or any other regulatory agency.
by Abby Ellin
Acai berries are touted as the latest miracle ingredient, and The New York Times examines whether these claims hold any merit. Abby Ellin interviews Stephen Talcott, a professor at Texas A&M University who… has studied the fruit. Talcott says there is "no scientific evidence to support a weight-loss claim for acai fruit." Furthermore, he says companies marketing acai for weight loss are "playing on consumer ignorance."
by Denise Grady
by Contributors to Amazon.com
by Contributors to Drugstore.com
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