from the my-mom-always-said-I'm-just-big-boned dept.
Weight-loss drug lorcaserin found to be safe in new study
A major study has found promising results for the safety of a weight-loss drug available in the US.
The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, says adults using the drug lorcaserin lost an average of 4kg (8.8lb) over 40 months.
It says the drug, which works by suppressing appetite, does not put people at greater risk of heart issues.
But experts emphasise the importance of long-term lifestyle changes in achieving effective weight loss.
Lorcaserin has been available in the US for several years under the name Belviq, but it has yet to be approved for use in Europe.
1 kg per 10 months. Not exactly a miracle drug, is it?
Related: Microbead Injection Leads to Appetite Control and Weight Loss in Human Subjects
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Early data from a human clinical trial indicates that bariatric arterial embolization could be a safe and effective procedure to initiate weight loss:
Findings from the early phase of a clinical trial led by Johns Hopkins investigators indicates that a new, minimally invasive weight loss treatment known as bariatric arterial embolization is safe and effective in sustaining weight loss in severely obese people.
The data, although preliminary, show the procedure seems to initiate weight loss, dramatic hunger reduction and lower levels of ghrelin, one of the main hormones involved in controlling hunger. The results will be presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 2016 Annual Scientific Meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Sunday, April 3.
[...] [Seven participants underwent] a bariatric arterial embolization, an image-guided procedure that involves the injection of microscopic beads through a small catheter inserted in a tiny nick in the skin of the groin or wrist. The beads are targeted to a portion of the stomach known as the fundus, which produces the vast majority of the body's ghrelin. The beads decrease blood flow, limiting the secretion of ghrelin, thereby minimizing hunger and initiating weight loss, researchers hypothesize.
In these seven patients, bariatric embolization was safe, with no major adverse events reported. All patients demonstrated weight loss and dramatic hunger reduction levels after the procedure. Ghrelin levels also trended down. Following bariatric arterial embolization, participants had an average excess weight loss of 5.9 percent, 9.5 percent and 13.3 percent at one, three and six months, respectively. Excess weight loss is the percentage of pounds lost above the patient's ideal body weight.
Found at Futurity.
(Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Tuesday August 28 2018, @02:40AM (3 children)
I'd think Cannabis high in CBD would be an even more effective appetite suppressant than that and probably less expensive. Just sayin'.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 28 2018, @03:08AM
Why? They usually use cannabis for putting on weight rather than taking it off.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 28 2018, @03:17AM (1 child)
Whenever I consume cannabis frequently, it's like it's impossible for me to gain weight.
I really only have to watch what I eat when I've run out.
As far as I know, the stuff I get isn't terribly high in CBD, certainly not compared to medicinal strains. (About half as much going by the labwork I looked at last.) I use it for spiritual purposes. The weight loss/management effect it has for me is a bonus.
It's something that needs to be studied more. We should always be cautious about treating cannabis like a panacea... but it certainly does seem like one. Could be the case that there's some minimum effective dose of CBD for weight management that's present in all but the weakest ruderalis [wikipedia.org] crossbreeds. It really makes no sense to turn to the latest designer molecules when nature's already provided us a cocktail of molecules proven safe since forever that's just as effective.
Actually, 1 kg/10 months?! lol! Make that an order of magnitude more effective for cannabis. Smoke some herb every day after the day's work is done and lose about 16 kg/10 months was my experience.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 28 2018, @01:18PM
So where's your peer-reviewed study showing that? All you've got is anecdotes, which might be interesting, but are no substitute for actual scientific peer-reviewed studies. This designer molecule they got has one. Oh, right, the government has made doing any actual science surrounding cannabis-derived compounds very difficult.
(Score: 2) by looorg on Tuesday August 28 2018, @03:11AM (5 children)
So which one is it again? Weight loss drug or just "life style change"? I'm fairly sure you could lose 1kg/10month without the drugs.
(Score: 2) by ikanreed on Tuesday August 28 2018, @03:53AM
Their study found, essentially, that about 40% of obese people taking their drug more than placebo were able to stick to lifestyle changes enough to lose 5% of their weight, while only 15% of pacebo users did.
Nominally an Appetite suppressant should be a willpower enhancer, not a cure-all. The "average 8.8 pounds" thing seems to be including both the people who made effective changes and lost weight, and those who didn't and kept the same weight(or gained).
That's an amazing result, but it's partially because of the hard work of the 40%. But the drug apparently made that job easier for them.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 28 2018, @12:14PM (3 children)
It's weight loss drug when the pharma rep is talking and life style change when the insurance companies are talking.
Outside the US, it's food industry regulations on the amount of sugar they're allowed to add and how they get to advertise their poison.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday August 28 2018, @01:30PM (2 children)
That is entirely the wrong way to do it.
The US is a pro-business nation. Capitalism! Yay!!!
First allow corporations to create a major nation wide problem -- and profit from it. We can't have regulations! If anything we need government regulations to prevent government regulation of corporations.
Next allow tons of ineffective miracle drugs and fad diets -- and profit from it. And from the next fad pill or diet after the 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc one didn't work for long term.
Finally allow big pharma to develop a real cure -- and profit from it.
God bless America corporate profits!
Corporations are people too.
The people who rely on government handouts and refuse to work should be kicked out of congress.
(Score: -1, Troll) by ChrisMaple on Wednesday August 29 2018, @12:36AM (1 child)
Capitalism is not a system good for immoral people, such as people who damage themselves by overeating or not exercising enough.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday August 29 2018, @01:08PM
Capitalism is not a system good for immoral people, selfish people, maybe even psychopaths, are drawn to C-level positions like moths to a flame.
The people who rely on government handouts and refuse to work should be kicked out of congress.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday August 28 2018, @06:33AM (2 children)
Bullshit. We'll talk again in 1000 months [xkcd.com], see who's laughing last.
(large grin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 28 2018, @06:59AM (1 child)
assuming you don't weigh a ton: you should talk to Alcubierre.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday August 28 2018, @07:12AM
Pedantic, I know, but for anything over 100kg at start, Alcubierre won't be interested.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Interesting) by KritonK on Tuesday August 28 2018, @06:39AM (4 children)
When I wanted to lose weight, I lost 1 kg per week, simply by cutting down on my food intake. What's more, having changed my eating habits, I've kept my weight low for years, after losing the weight I wanted. Of course, doing this requires some willpower, which I guess is what diet drugs attempt to substitute.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 28 2018, @11:36AM (1 child)
That's cutting down about 4500 calories per week for the average person, which isn't very healthy. Of course, it does depend on how much you were eating before.
(Score: 2) by KritonK on Wednesday August 29 2018, @08:02AM
Not healthy? Possibly, though it didn't feel as if I was starving myself. I'd certainly not recommend losing weight faster than that, though.
Oddly enough, the amount of food that I eat to maintain my weight is little more than what I used to eat when dieting, so I guess I must have been eating a lot. On the other hand, I have less body weight to maintain, and having a lighter body requires less energy to move, so I don't need as many calories as before.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 28 2018, @12:10PM (1 child)
It's funny that you criticize the willpower of others when you reached a weight that you were unhappy with.
Did you rationalize that you wanted that initial heavy weight or that you just didn't care about your weight at that time?
(Score: 2) by KritonK on Wednesday August 29 2018, @07:49AM
When I decided to lose weight, it was when I reached the top margin of what is considered normal weight for my height and age; I didn't need to lose weight before.
Regarding willpower, deciding to go on a diet and do it properly was the hardest part, which is why I mention it. Once I decided to start and stick with it, the rest turned out to be easy.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 28 2018, @10:29AM
Try to imagine what the cover of Weight Watchers Magazine would look like.
"I lost HALF a stone in only THREE YEARS! Now I'm a size... er... 24!"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 28 2018, @10:32AM
... is that after you've lost that 8.8lb in 40 months, reached your target weight, and want to stay there, the drugs don't work any more.
To do that, you have to buy a different drug from them. It costs $80 a syringe and it makes your skin dry up, your teeth fall out, and gives you terrible psychotic hallucinations, which can only be stopped by taking more.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 28 2018, @12:03PM
Can any editors update the summary because its a bad read on the data.
Figure 1 shows a rapid loss of 4kg within 6 months that levels off and sustains for the duration (40 months). The placebo control slowly loses weight through the duration, about -1.4kg.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday August 28 2018, @01:34PM
Won't a drug like this interfere with the perfectly legal business of various fad diets and pills?
The people who rely on government handouts and refuse to work should be kicked out of congress.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 28 2018, @10:22PM
I'll just throw in a plug for low carb / keto / Atkins / whatever you call it.
It's working a treat for me and I am not hungry and I don't count calories.
Calorie counting diets are hard to stick to and you are always hungry.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 29 2018, @12:00AM
Stop eating carbs for one week and you will lose more than this (most of it just water)... my point is that it is on the level of a weekly fluctuation.