According to the Centers for Disease Control, two-thirds of adults in the United States are either obese or overweight. Overweight individuals are at an increased risk for chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes. A popular weight loss method is diet pills. Although they may curb your appetite and increase your metabolism, these medications carry health risks. Consult your doctor before engaging in any weight loss plan.
Over-the-Counter Aids
Diet pills are composed of varying ingredients, some of which may be harmful to you. Many diet pills can be purchased over-the-counter or on the Internet without a prescription. It is important to get your doctor's input however, to advise you of the risks associated with certain ingredients. Store employees may seem knowledgeable, but they are not licensed professionals. Remember, their priority is to sell a product. The information they provide to you should not form the basis of your decision to try a particular diet pill.
Prescription Medications
Prescription medications for weight loss are generally limited to people who are obese. Most of these medications are prescribed for a few months, although significantly obese people may be prescribed a medication for a longer period of time. Two such medications are sibutramine, or Meridia, and orlistat, or Xenical. Sibutramine increases metabolism but also increases blood pressure; if you take this pill, you should also have your blood pressure taken on a regular basis. Orlistat lowers the amount of fat absorbed by the body but can result in gastrointestinal problems such as gas and frequent trips to the bathroom.
Fen-Phen
Fen-Phen was a medication once prescribed for the treatment of obesity. Its name is a combination of its ingredients, fenfluramine and phentermine. Fen-phen was taken off the market in 1997 after it was linked to heart valve problems and hypertension. According to a study, published in the December 2004 issue of "Preventive Medicine," one-third of fen-phen users continued to take this medication in 1998 despite it having been pulled from the market the previous year. These researchers also stated that 10 percent of diet pill users obtained prescribed medication from relatives, friends and other individuals who were not physicians.
FDA
In December 2008, the Food and Drug Administration issued a warning to American consumers about 28 weight loss products that were deemed potentially harmful. According to the FDA, the products identified contained "undeclared active pharmaceutical ingredients" that pose a health risk to users. In January 2008, less than a month later, this list was updated to include an additional 41 weight loss products. It was determined that these products included dangerous ingredients that were not listed on the product's label, contained prescription drugs or had substances in a quantity in excess of the approved maximum dosage. The names of these products are listed on the FDA's website.
References
- CDC.gov: Recommended Community Strategies and Measurements to Prevent Obesity in the United States
- Mayo Clinic: Caution Advised With Nonprescription Weight-Loss Pills
- "Preventive Medicine"; Prescription weight loss pill use among Americans: patterns of pill use and lessons learned from the fen-phen market withdrawal; H.M. Blanck, et al.; Dec 2004
- PBS.org: Fen-Phen Nation
- FDA.gov: FDA Expands Warning to Consumers About Tainted Weight Loss Pills
- UC Davis Health System: Can diet pills help you lose weight?
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