Diet Pills and the FDA
Diet Pills and the FDA
Each year, millions of Americans resolve to lose weight—it is one of the most common New Year’s resolutions. Many people start off with great intentions, but within months, weeks, or even days, most of them give up and return to their usual habits. If they work to lose weight, the possibility exists that they might end up regaining any weight they lost. Americans spend up to $30 billion each year on various methods of weight loss, and often see little improvement for their investment. Money is spent on gym memberships, exercise equipment, and weight loss supplements.7 For many morbidly obese people, the only way they can get on the road to successful weight loss is though the use of drugs or other medical interventions.
Over the years, experts’ rationale for incorporating obesity drugs into established guidelines has changed. There are several reasons for this. Top among these are that experts realize that obesity and overweight are major health problems, and can develop into lifelong diseases. These factors indicate that obesity is a chronic (long-term) disease. Children who are obese often remain obese or overweight as adults. This chapter focuses on the use, risks, and benefits of prescription drugs that are approved by the FDA for weight loss
QUALIFYING FOR DRUG THERAPY
For an overweight or obese person to qualify for drug therapy, he or she must meet certain criteria. These are:
Diet Pills and the FDA
When people are obese, there are a number of concerns that are more serious than just looking large on the outside. On the inside, many of the body’s organs are affected due to increased weight, some of which are illustrated here. Being overweight can also lead to high blood pressure and high cholesterol, both of which can cause someone to have a heart attack or stroke.
- The patient must have a BMI greater than 30 kg/m2.
- The patient must have a BMI greater than 27 kg/m2
and risk factors for:
- High blood pressure;
- High levels of cholesterol in the blood.
3. The patient must have a waist circumference greater
than 35 inches (89 cm) for women or 40 inches
(102 cm) for men, and the risk factors stated above.
It is important to realize that people who qualify for drugtherapy do so based on health considerations and risk factors, not simply because they want to improve their appearance. Drug therapy is not undertaken for cosmetic reasons and should never be regarded as a shortcut or “springboard” to weight loss.Healthy diet and exercise are the keys to weight loss.
Diet drugs alone will not produce weight loss. A patient must be engaged in an appropriate weight loss program that includes regular exercise. If someone wishes to lose weight over the long term, he or she must be committed to staying on his or her weight loss program. Diet drugs are not the “be all, end all” of weight loss.
HOW THE FDA APPROVES DRUGS
The FDA’s approval process for new prescription drugs is extensive. It can take over ten years for a drug to reach the market. Before receiving FDA approval, a new drug must be studied extensively. The process begins with the discovery or development of a new substance that can be used for medicinal purposes. The potential drug is first studied in a laboratory, then in animals. It is then studied in healthy adults to see what effects it produces and to determine how it works in the body. In the next phase of studies, the drug is given to a large number of people who are “sick,” to see if the drug is effective.
If the drug passes through these rounds of testing, it is subjected to a thorough review by an FDA advisory committee, which determines from all of the information the company submits whether or not the drug works. Considerable emphasis is also put on the safety of this new drug. If the drug passes the FDA’s review, it can be put on the market. The result of this extensive review process is, ideally, a new, effective, safe drug that can help a person combat a disease (such as obesity) that can result in very serious outcomes.
Метки:children, diet, diet drug, diet pill, Diet Pills, effects, fda, Health, health problems, heart attack, lose weight, loss, major health, morbidly obese people, obesity, obesity drug, obesity drugs, Zimulti
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