Health & Medical Advice and Information - UK Medical Health

In a world that continues to place more value on convenience and speed, our diets and health will continue to suffer. Obesity rates are at an all time high. People don’t have the time, energy or money to eat right. Junk food is now much more affordable than fruits and vegetables and crazy work schedules make regular meals times nearly impossible. We eat what we can, when we can, and hope for the best. The result is quite simple: We are getting fatter and many folks don’t know how to get it under control.

Diet pills, of course, are not new. Though critics point toward a history of nasty side effects, and rightly so, the science of losing weight continues to become more focused. Pharmaceutical companies are not slowing down in the development of new medications designed to help people lose weight. Two new medications, Histalean and Excalia, are going through clinical trials right now. The development of these two new drugs is further evidence that, though science hasn’t been able to develop the perfect diet pill, they are getting closer to designing a series of different medications that will work well for different types of people. In the long run, these advancements will prove to be beneficial to many who have found traditional weight loss medications to be ineffective.

Histalean is a repurposed drug that was originally used to treat vertigo. Having been widely used in Europe and Canada for the last 30 years, recent studies show additional benefits. Aside from performing its initially intended function, this betahistine based drug also blocks receptors in the brain that cause the body to feel hungry and to crave fatty foods. Histalean has sailed through its clinical trials because the drug has already been in use for nearly 30 years. The side effects are minimal, and safety isn’t a concern to the FDA with this drug as it is with many other diet or weight loss drugs.

Initial reports from researchers suggest that, although Histalean still has a way to go before it is approved by the FDA, it could be one of the most effective slimming pills that we have seen to date. In a series of Phase II clinical trials, all women under 50, those who took Histalean for 12 weeks lost 7 times more weight than those who took a placebo. One additional highlight from the trials was that those tested showed no or minimal side effects.

Excalia is a another recently developed weight loss drug. Like Histalean, Excalia must still undergo some rigorous testing, but it appears initially that it will be a very effective drug. Excalia is made by blending two drugs that already have FDA approval and which are very popular in the American pharmaceutical marketplace.  The first ingredient is Zonisamide, which is commonly used to help control epileptic seizures. The second is Bupropion, commonly sold under the brand names Wellbutrin and Zyban. These drugs are used as an anti-depressant and as an aid to quit smoking respectively. The combination of these drugs, some are saying, is the miracle that our over obese society has been waiting for.

As well as being an appetite suppressant, Excalia it works to speed up the body’s metabolism and keep it there. The body’s increased metabolic rate allows one to burn more calories in less time.  The numbers being touted following the Phase II clinical trials for Excalia are a staggering 12% weight loss after 48 months. While it may not seem like a huge number to those who are proponents of exercise and diet control as a primary means of weight loss, the idea that a pill by itself can produce such a dramatic result is rather staggering.

Though the two drugs, Histalean and Excalia, operate quite differently, they share one common feature that may serve to make them the most popular weight loss drugs ever. If the two new drugs get the go ahead, they will provide serious competition to the existing medications available: Acomplia; Reductil and Xenical.

If these two drugs can successfully find their way through FDA and European Medicine Agency approval, millions stand to benefit. Though the diet drugs don’t equate to the healthy benefits of a complete lifestyle change, they can be the catalyst that will help those who struggle with obesity to turn the corner. They just might be the wonder drug that you’ve been waiting for.

Experts and researchers are purporting that Acomplia, a slimming pill now being sold in Europe, may be a new miracle drug. Not only does Acomplia have a significant impact on the weight and waist size of obese patients, but it can also reduce the craving for nicotine in smokers. One benefit that is currently being studied in detail is the effect the diet pills have on diabetic patients. There appears to be significant impact on the ability to control blood sugar levels in those diabetic patients who take these slimming pill.

How Acomplia Works

Acomplia fights fat in two ways. The most commonly discussed way is the drug’s effect on the brain. Acomplia is a cannabinoid type 1 receptor blocker. This means that the drug works in a patient’s brain to block the receptors that cause hunger, thus causing the patient to eat less.

Acomplia also works on the fat cells in the patients taking the drug. This is where the diabetic connection comes in. Fat cells in obese people do not produce enough cytokine, which is an important protein in the body. When there is not enough cytokine in the body, people are more apt to develop type 2 diabetes. Acomplia increases cytokine production in fat tissue, which reduces the risk of developing the dangerous disease.

The Fat and Blood Sugar Connection

Besides the direct effect on the fat tissue in the body, these slimming pills work to reduce diabetes first by helping the patient lose weight. Acomplia is not yet approved by the FDA for use in the United States, but many countries in Europe have doctors who are now prescribing the drug to their patients, with encouraging results. Patients who took the drug and made no lifestyle changes were able to lose an average of 19 pounds of weight in one year’s time. This weight was kept off in most cases. On top of this, 39% of the patients in the clinical weight loss trials lost over a tenth of their body weight at the end of the first year.

What is significant about these results is not only the fact that these patients did achieve weight loss, but also the areas where the weight loss occurred. Abdominal weight is a good indicator of how likely a patient is to have diabetes or heart disease. The more excess fat someone has around their abdomen, the more likely they are to die early from one of these conditions, particularly heart disease. The patients in the early studies of Acomplia lost an average of 3.5 inches around their waists. The more fat that an individual loses in the abdominal area, the less likely it will be for that person to develop type 2 diabetes.

Help for Those with Diabetes

Thus far, Acomplia has shown promise as a drug that will help prevent overweight patients from developing type 2 diabetes, but those who already have the disease may be wondering if these slimming pill can help them as well. The answer appears to be that they can. Of course, as all diabetic patients know, losing weight is one of the best ways to combat the disease. Since Acomplia helps a patient with weight loss, it can help alleviate the symptoms of diabetes.

Studies are currently underway to show how Acomplia may impact blood sugar levels. In a recent study Acomplia was given to a group of type 2 diabetes patients who were not having any other form of treatment. The study lasted for six months. These patients were tested for HbA1C, which is the hemoglobin that is an indicator of how well blood glucose levels are under control. At the end of the six months, most patients who were receiving 20 mg of Acomplia each day had lowered their HbA1C levels by 0.8%. Patients in the group who had a high baseline before the study began lowered their HbA1C levels by 1.9% on average. While these reductions may not seem like much to those who are not familiar with the science of diabetes, the truth is that every 1% reduction in HbA1C reduces the risk of death by 24% for men and 28% for women.

The patients in this study were all overweight. They did lose weight while on Acomplia, losing an average of around 14 pounds. Some researchers wondered if the diabetes results came from the weight loss alone. While weight loss does reduce the effects of diabetes, the patients who were on Acomplia actually had 57% more benefits than they would have had just from the weight loss. Also, Acomplia had a significant effect on the HDL cholesterol levels in the body, which reduces much of the risk of cardiovascular disease that many obese patients face.

These promising results may cause the FDA to take a new look at Acomplia. Diabetes, heart disease, and obesity are the main causes of premature death in America. If Acomplia can reduce the risk of all three of these, it may be approved for use in the United States. The makers of Acomplia

are currently looking at ways to present the drug to the FDA to consider as a treatment for type 2 diabetes.