Orlistat/Xenical
So, what do you guys think about this drug being made available over the counter?
I heard some discussion about this on my local morning radio show, and they were pointing out that weight loss is between five and six pounds over a six-month period (so one pound per month) and that it works "when combined with a plan of diet and exercise" and has a whole mess of side effects. You also have to take a vitamin, because it leeches nutrients out of your system.
Their final analysis was that it wasn't worth it, basically. I don't see it as being particularly dangerous, but I won't eat the Olestra Doritos, and I probably wouldn't take this. Then again, I'm not a big fat-eater anyway. My problem is sugar. I'd probably be all over a sugar-blocker pill, side effects or not!
Thanks to the gang at Tight Science for the links.
I heard some discussion about this on my local morning radio show, and they were pointing out that weight loss is between five and six pounds over a six-month period (so one pound per month) and that it works "when combined with a plan of diet and exercise" and has a whole mess of side effects. You also have to take a vitamin, because it leeches nutrients out of your system.
Their final analysis was that it wasn't worth it, basically. I don't see it as being particularly dangerous, but I won't eat the Olestra Doritos, and I probably wouldn't take this. Then again, I'm not a big fat-eater anyway. My problem is sugar. I'd probably be all over a sugar-blocker pill, side effects or not!
Thanks to the gang at Tight Science for the links.
7 Comments:
You can do six pounds in six months through diet and exercise alone without side effects. The caloric difference, ~ 120 calories a day, wouldn't be much of a hardship. It hardly seems worth the expense and trouble to take the pill. Plus, would you learn the lessons about food choices that you'd need to maintain the loss? I suppose if there's no other way to lose the weight it's something.
I can't get past the "oily discharge" side effect. Even if it promised me that I'd lose 10 pounds a month.
I'd be ALL OVER that sugar blocker too.
My concern on this is that by putting it over the counter they eliminate the opportunity for doctors and pharmacists to counsel people about how to use it effectively (i.e. with a low fat caloried controlled diet combined with exercise) and manage expectations (it'll help you out a little bit, but it's not a miracle pill and it has side effects). Once it goes OTC the only advice most people will get is going to come from TV and magazine ads, which are produced by the manufacturer and substantially biased.
I think a more effective approach would be to:
1. Loosen the prescribing guidelines to include anyone over 25 BMI to make it more accessible for people who are moderately overweight but don't yet have weight related health problems.
2. Keep it prescription, so that people can't take it without medical advice and counsel.
3. Take it generic to lower the price tag and make it more accessible to overweight and obese people of limited means.
But that's not a plan that enhances Glaxo's profits, so it's not going to happen.
In a word, heinous.
You know the anorexics, bulimics, and current laxative abusers are going to be all over it, to start.
Second, some of the feminist blogs (check out Feministe for starters - I'm sorry I'm HTML clueless) have some interesting commentary on the comparison between the FDA's approval of this for OTC use and its refusal to sanction emergency contraceptives for OTC EVEN THOUGH ITS OWN PANEL HAD APPROVED IT FOR OTC USE. Not to derail the comments thread, but I think it's an interesting case of "we want you to look sexy, but we'll tell you what to do with that sexy body once you have it."
Food (pun intended) for thought.
I think one of the reasons why this drug is considered so safe for OTC use is because (along with the fact that it doesn't have very potent effects) it would have no synergy with eating disorder behaviors. Anorexics eat very little or no fat, so this drug would have essentially no effect on them. Likewise, bulimics and laxative abusers purge the food from their bodies before it can be absorbed, so the drug would likewise have no effect.
littlem, I agree that it was a terrible thing for the FDA t reject the recommendations of its advisory committee when it came to the morning-after pill. But I hardly think that's justification for more FDA decisions to be made on the basis of political considerations rather than the medical judgement of the advisory committee.
Jen -
Purging isn't just vomiting. Purging also comes in the form of extreme fasting or exercising after a binge. This fat-blocking pill would have a HUGE draw to these bulimics.
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