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Diet Safety: Accomplishing your weight-loss goals with Acomplia

By Megan Roth

By many, it’s considered a miracle drug. It’s a new age weight loss tool and is “the next best hope for those who are struggling to keep their weight down or give up smoking.” It’s Acomplia, ladies and gentleman, and (supposedly) it’ll rock your world.

At least, according to its supporters it will. As always, I’m skeptimistic.

The anti-obesity drug (also referred to as Rimonabant) was approved by the EU in 2006 but has not yet been approved for use in the U.S. (Sanofi, the manufacturer of the drug, withdrew it’s application for approval in the summer of 2007, but don’t let that fool you, though; similar to Ephedra and other drugs not approved on the U.S. market, it seems easy to come by (considering I’m relatively naïve and I’ve heard of it before)).

Regardless, here’s the scoop: like all others, the drug is meant to be used in combination with diet and exercise (specifically for treating overweight individuals dealing with Type 2 diabetes). That being said, it’s most effective when used by individuals with a larger than normal waist circumference (for men, that’s approximately 102 cm and for women 88 cm).

It works by blocking cannabinoid receptors in the brain, thus controlling one’s consumption of and dependence on food (ie – it lessens hunger pains so you don’t feel prompted to eat as much or as often). In lesser words, it’s essentially an appetite suppressant.

So what do the users say? Almost unanimously, users in the clinical trails reported a suppressed appetite. In addition, a number of users also reported nausea, dizziness, vomiting and feelings of depression.

While the drug isn’t a stimulant, it has also caused restlessness and sleep deprivation amongst many of its users (which can be one of the symptoms of depression).

Granted, not all (or even a majority) of the users reported these symptoms; however, the fact that they happened to any users at all is reason enough to raise a red flag.

Now, they say these side effects are the results of behavioral changes; they claim the drug alters your eating habits in a safe way but that your body will still react. And if you think about it, this does make sense. But at what point do those reactions become cause for alarm?

Well, for starters it’s an automatic eyebrow raiser whenever the drug is used in combination with alcohol (unless you want to fast-track the destruction of your liver, don’t even mess around with this).

And when the other aforementioned symptoms last more than a few days, start asking questions. A lot of questions, actually. In fact, many research officials and scientists are doing just that; many worry about the long-term mental health effects Acomplia (and similar drugs) may have.

Now we know you’re not taking Acomplia (as it’s not legal in the States), but contact the Lombardi Law Firm if you’ve been injured by any other diet pills or supplements.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Megan Roth

Full post as published by Des Moines Personal Injury Lawyer on January 14, 2009 (boomark / email).