How Diet Pills Work

Nearly everyone is on drugs

2008-08-23T09:15:00.002-07:00

More people are taking prescription drugs than ever before! Drugs are used by:

Almost two-thirds of women 20 and older
One in four children and teenagers
52 percent of adult men
Three out of four people 65 or older

In addition, there has been increased medication use for chronic problems in all demographic groups. Among seniors, 28 percent of women and nearly 22 percent of men take five or more medications regularly.

Heart disease and diabetes are the most frequent reasons for taking meds, with obesity being a common etiologic factor for these disease states. The drugs that are used most frequently are those that treat high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

The largest gains, in chronic medication use, were in the 20 to 44-year-old age group, where drug use rose 20 percent over the last six years. This was mainly due to more use of drugs for depression, diabetes, asthma, attention deficit disorder and seizure disorders.

Choosing between cheap drugs and a thin waist

2008-08-23T09:15:00.001-07:00

Dr. Benjamin Brewer notes the difficulty of weight gain associated with medication for diabetes, since obesity is often a risk factor for diabetes. The less-expensive drugs (ones like glipizide, which you can get at Wal-Mart for $4 a month) are the most likely to cause weight gain, while the more expensive drugs like Byetta may actually help people lose weight.

Other generic drugs that don’t cause weight gain might not be powerful enough to treat the blood sugar problem, he writes. And even people on some of the more expensive drugs, such as Actos and Avandia, may still end up gaining weight on their bodies as they lose weight from their wallets.

Slimming Down at the Pharmacy

2008-08-23T09:14:00.003-07:00

Tourists in France have, for the most part, already heard that the French are relatively unembarrassed by the naked human form. So, when in France, we’re rarely shocked by topless sunbathers or by a nipple showing in a fashion magazine. We are however, often thrown for a loop when we pass the pharmacies that line French streets.

It seems that in almost every pharmacy’s window there are borderline erotic images of undressed women. A profile view of a thin, nude woman shown from breast to knee or a zoomed in image of a flat tummy with strategically placed shadows just below, keeping the ad PG-13, is a common scene. Then there’s the ever-popular set of two firm butt cheeks on display for passersby.

Diet Pills won’t make weight loss any easier

2008-08-23T09:14:00.001-07:00

Pharmacists explain that these products can make it easier to deal with hunger and can help your body burn fat, but they’re all supposed to be used in concert with a healthy diet and exercise. No one’s going to lose 10 kilograms solely from taking a pill every day. Then they told me candidly, “Mostly we carry weight-loss products because they’re in demand. But we only have two or three over there, because they’re all pretty much the same. There’s no need to fill the shelves with 40 different weight-loss packages.”

So what’s with the naked ladies in the window? “Oh, we don’t have those ads in the window all the time! It’s just because it’s spring and people are starting to think about trying to fit into their bikini.” So, even if French pharmacies won’t stoop to selling cigarettes to make a buck, they’re still capitalist enterprises. And they’re not beyond displaying a model’s naked butt to encourage you to hop in and pick up a 20 or 30 Euro box of pills that could help you lose weight, as long as you diet and exercise as well.

Which Diet Pills Really Work?

2008-08-23T09:09:00.001-07:00

With summer here, many of my friends have been talking about one thing: losing weight. As we started talking about all the different diet plans out there, one friend asked, "Why diet, when you can just pop a diet pill?" Is it really that easy? Being completely naive about diet pills and diet supplements, I decided to pull a list of the top searched diet pills to find out what all the hype was about.

I can see why Alli made it to the top of the list. According to their customer testimonials, this pill, along with diet and exercise, can increase weight loss up to 50 percent. However, Alli is known to have some nasty side effects as well. According to their website, you will pass something "that looks like the oil on top of a pizza" out your body. Are the benefits worth the costs?

Did you know phentermine received FDA approval back in 1959? It's still the top searched diet pill today. It's strange to think people have been using phentermine for so long.

I have to say, I'm a little skeptical of all these miracle pills and I wonder if they really lead to healthy weight loss. There are so many diet pills that out there that I question how safe they really are. Some of these diet pills I have actually heard of like Hoodia and Hydroxycut. But what exactly are Meridia and Lipovox?

Dieting is hard! Quick diets don't help you lose weight long term and exercise regimens are hard to stick to. Maybe diet pills really are the best way how to lose weight effectively.

Yes, popping a diet pill does sound much easier than counting your calories or exercising, but do they really work? Have you tried any of these diet pills? And if so, what worked for you? Try searching for diet pills on AOL Search. Or, if diet pills aren't your thing, you can check out AOL Body for weight loss tips.

Top Searched Diet Pills on AOL Search

2008-08-23T09:08:00.001-07:00

1. Alli
2. Phentermine
3. Hoodia
4. Hydroxycut
5. Slimquick
6. Meridia
7. Xenical
8. Relacore
9. Lipovox
10. Metabolife

How Diet Pills Work

2008-07-29T20:56:00.001-07:00

In the quest for the perfect diet pill, scientists, doctors, and those who are going to use these drugs need to understand how diet pills work. Knowing what actions a drug takes and how it affects the body helps scientists and doctors understand what side effects the drug may cause. Recognizing side effects and understanding what causes them can, in turn, help researchers formulate drugs with fewer or less serious side effects.

HOW DO DIET PILLS CAUSE WEIGHT LOSS?

2008-07-29T20:55:00.000-07:00

Diet pills work by affecting the body processes that cause weight gain. Diet pills work to cause weight loss in one of three main ways:

Increasing energy expenditure (calories burned).
Decreasing the number of calories that are absorbed
during digestion.
Suppressing appetite to decrease how much food
is eaten.

Increasing Energy Expenditure (Calories Burned) Calories consumed in food are used by the body as fuel. The body’s use of calories as its source of energy is called thermogenesis. Literally, thermogenesis means “the production of heat” because when people burn calories, heat is produced. The body needs a constant supply of fuel to maintain normal functions that people don’t usually think about, like breathing.

Increasing Energy Expenditure (Calories Burned)

2008-07-29T20:54:00.000-07:00

Calories consumed in food are used by the body as fuel. The body’s use of calories as its source of energy is called thermogenesis. Literally, thermogenesis means “the production of heat” because when people burn calories, heat is produced. The body needs a constant supply of fuel to maintain normal functions that people don’t usually think about, like breathing.

Certain drugs cause the body to burn more calories as it performs its normal daily functions. By burning more calories, people lose weight even though they are eating the same amount. These drugs increase the body’s fuel requirements, ideally to a point where the body needs more calories than the person takes in from food. When this happens, the body begins breaking down its fat stores as fuel. As these fat stores are used, people lose weight. Side effects associated with this type of diet pill often occur because, in causing the body to burn more calories, the pills speed up many body processes—possibly to a level that becomes dangerous. Examples are increased blood pressure and heart rate, which can lead to heart problems over time. Other side effects include nervousness and insomnia. Many diet pills that work by increasing the number of calories burned have been developed. Most of these contain one or more of the three ingredients: caffeine, phenylpropanolamine (PPA), and ephedrine. In the United States, PPA and ephedrine have been withdrawn from the market
because they produce serious side effects, including heart attack and stroke.

Decreasing Calorie Absorption

2008-07-29T20:52:00.000-07:00

After food is eaten, it is digested in the stomach. The digested nutrients from food are absorbed, mainly in the intestines, into the bloodstream and are used as fuel for the body.When people eat more food than they need, the body stores the extra nutrients as fat, which accounts for weight gain. Some diet drugs are able to prevent the body from absorbing some of the calories contained in food. People who take these drugs can eat the same amount of food and take in the same number of calories and still lose weight, because the drug causes their bodies to absorb and use fewer calories. The excess calories are eliminated in the stool. Drugs that preventabsorption of nutrients in the intestine may also prevent other drugs a person may be taking from being absorbed. For this reason, it is important not to take these diet pills at the same time as other medications, and to separate them by a few hours. Since these drugs affect the digestive system, including the stomach and intestines, they may also lead to side effects like diarrhea and flatulence (passing gas).

Currently, the only drug on the market that works by blocking the body’s absorption of calories is orlistat, which is sold under the brand name Xenical®. Orlistat specifically
decreases the absorption of fats from food consumed.

Appetite Suppression

2008-07-29T20:49:00.000-07:00

Appetite is controlled by many factors. Processes in the body tell people when they are hungry and when they are satiated (full). Neurotransmitters (chemical messengers in the brain) such as norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine tell the brain that the stomach feels full. Drugs that increase the levels of these neurotransmitters cause a decrease in appetite by relaying the message that the stomach is full, thus telling the brain to send a “stop eating!” signal. These drugs are effective because, in general, appetite decreases when a person feels full. Drugs that increase more than one of the neurotransmitters may be more effective for weight loss than those that increase only one. Some drugs that work in this way also have the effect of increasing the number of calories burned (thermogenesis).

Dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin have other responsibilities in the body besides dictating hunger. For example, norepinephrine also helps control blood pressure. Drugs that affect the level of these neurotransmitters interfere with other body processes and produce negative side effects. A drug that increases norepinephrine will decrease appetite, butwill also increase blood pressure. Other common side effects of drugs that increase norepinephrine are dry mouth, insomnia, and constipation. Examples of diet pills that affect these neurotransmitters are sibutramine (Meridia®) and phentermine. Appetite is controlled by many body processes, as shown here. The arrows indicate things that increase and decrease
hunger. All of these processes work by sending signals to the brain to indicate a feeling of hunger or satiety (fullness). Certain diet pills called appetite suppressants may work in the same way as some of these body processes, by sending signals to the brain that indicate satiety and say “stop eating!”