There is new hope on the near horizon for an effective medication to treat obesity. In the past, drugs have targeted a single system of the body in an attempt to reduce hunger . That has been largely disappointing for several reasons. One of the primary problems has been toxic effects such as found in fen-phen. While it did help with weight loss the patients had heart value problems in some cases. That , once hopeful drug, had to be taken off the market in 1997 and work to find a better alternative has continued since then.
A newer method of research is targeting multiple brain chemistry systems at one time. Combinations of older drugs reach different parts of the brain and may prove to be the key. Excessive hunger is related to brain function as well as emotion and multiple other factors. This is why obesity is so difficult to treat. Our success rate in cancer is higher than in chronic obesity.
Denver Medical Center is a major hub for treatment and many approaches are utilized. Bariatric surgery and medications are used and behavior therapy is applied as well. http://Healthonecares.com
Doctors at the weight loss center define obese as being a BMI above 40. This endangers both life and health and it is a serious medical problem that has eluded easy solutions.
Two new drugs being tested that look promising are Onexa which yielded a weight loss of 13-15% of weight in one year. However, some patients had both memory and concentration problems so more work is necessary. Another medication is Vivus which investors seem to like very much. It works on multiple brain chemicals at the same time to stop overeating. These combinations of older drugs may be the missing key to helping obese patients.
Derek Lowe, researcher in this field explains that many complex variables go into the problem of overeating and we are still operating in the exploratory stage in many cases. No one really knows why hunger can grow out of control and the normal feedback loop just stops working.
These combination medications seem to hold more hope than researchers have held out for a long time. They address not only hunger but brain chemistry in a way that may calm and quiet the disordered brain chemistry that leads to overeating. This is a major breakthrough in our approach and may help many millions to avoid surgery , diabetes, heart attacks or other major health issues.
Such a great percentage of the population is now obese that it must be related in some way to our enforced lifestyle and/or social stressors that are new to us. As intense research continues, it appears that we may be on the very verge of solving this painful and pressing problem
More soon, Taylor .
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