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08/30/99
Drugs: At the pharmacy
The weight-loss drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
for the treatment of obesity are designed to decrease the number of calories
people take in. Here is a sampling of some of the drugs*:
| Generic name: | Phentermine (was widely prescribed in the 'phen-fen' combination) | Sibutramine | Orlistat |
| Brand names: | Fastin, Adipex-P, Ionamin, others | Meridia | Xenical |
| How it works: | Increases availability of brain chemical norepinephrine; inhibits appetite | Increases availability of brain chemicals norepinephrine and serotonin; inhibits appetite | Inhibits the digestive enzyme pancreatic lipase, reducing absorption of fat by the intestine |
Drugs: In the lab
Pharmaceutical companies are also testing and developing other compounds
as possible weight-loss medications. Here is a list of some of those compounds:
If new weight-loss medications are discovered, many doctors believe that combining medications that work in different ways will be more effective than giving a single drug.
Surgery: A last resort
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| Vertically banded gastroplasty creates a small stomach
pouch. Another procedure that restricts stomach size, laparoscopic gastric
banding, is being tested by the FDA.
| The Roux-en-Y gastric bypass involves first creating a small stomach pouch. Then the small intestine is cut and reattached to the pouch so food bypasses the first portion of the small intestine. |
The National Institutes of Health recommends surgeries for weight loss in certain severely obese patients who haven’t responded to less-invasive treatments. People with a body mass index (BMI) over 40 (see chart on page 3F), or people with a BMI over 35 with medical complications, are considered candidates for surgeries.
Two commonly used procedures are the vertically banded gastroplasty and the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. Both operations are thought to promote weight loss by limiting how much the stomach can hold, and by delaying the emptying of the food into the intestine. Bypass surgery is also thought to decrease the amount of calories absorbed by the intestine.