Friends, some people have serious health problems because they are overweight. Most of them try dieting and exercising but still cannot lose weight. In the end, the choice for them is to go in for WEIGHT LOSS PRESCRIPTION DRUGS. Along with weight loss drugs, one must also stick to diet and exercise.
Who Can Take Weight-Loss Drugs?
The healthcare provider may suggest a weight-loss drug for you in some cases. These include if you haven’t been able to lose weight through diet and exercise, and your
- Body Mass Index (BMI) is greater than 30. This means you are living with a condition that involves having too much body fat, called obesity.
- BMI is greater than 27. You also have serious problems linked to obesity, such as diabetes and high blood pressure.
Before choosing a medicine for your weight-loss, your healthcare provider or doctor thinks about your history and health challenges. Then your doctor talks with you about the pros and con of the prescription weight-loss drugs. These drugs are not for everyone. For example, one should not take these drugs if one is trying to get pregnant, and is pregnant or breastfeeding.
How Well Do Weight-Loss Drugs Work?
Prescription weight-loss drugs that can be used for more than 12 weeks are called long-term use, lead to major weight loss compared with an inactive treatment that does not use medicine, called a placebo. The combination of weight-loss medicine and lifestyle changes leads to greater weight-loss than with lifestyle changes alone.
Taking these drugs for a year can mean a loss of body weight of 3 to12% more than that lone may lose with lifestyle changes. That may not seem like a lot. But losing 5 to 10% of your total weight and keeping it off can have important health benefits. For example, it can lower your blood pressure, blood sugar levels, and levels of fats in the blood called triglycerides.
Side Effects of Weight-Loss Drugs
Mild side effects such as nausea, constipation and diarrhea are common. They may lessen over time. Rarely, serious side effects happen. That’s why it is important to ask your doctor about all treatment choices. And ask about the possible side effects and benefits of each prescribed drug. Many people gain back some of the weight they lost when they stop taking weight-loss drugs. But practicing healthy lifestyle habits may limit weight gain.
Some of the weight loss drugs approved by Federal Drug Authority of the USA
Most prescription weight loss drugs work by making you feel less hungry or fuller. Some do both. One drug called Orlistat affects the body to absorb fats.
1 Bupropion- Naltrexone– while naltrexone drug was earlier mainly used for the treatment of alcohol and opium addiction, and bupropion was for treating depression and smoking addiction. The researchers found that the combination of these drugs can help in weight loss. The side effects are it can raise BP, and other mild side effects are nausea, headache and constipation.
2 Liraglutide– it is also used for managing diabetes. It is given as daily shot. Nausea is common complaint.
3 Orlistat- It can cause side effects such as passing gas and having loose stools. You need to follow a low-fat-diet when taking this medicine.
4 Phentermine-topiramate– It is a combination of weight-loss drug phentermine and an anticonvusant drug called topiramate. Possible side effects include increase in heart rate, high BP, insomnia, constipation and nervousness. Topiramate increases the risk of birth defects.. It is a short term weight-loss drug ( can be used only for less than 12 weeks).
5 Semaglutide– It is also used to help control type 2 diabetes. It can cause side effects such as Nausea and Vomiting, Diarrhea, Belly pain, Headache and Tiredness.
In the end, weight-loss drugs are not an easy answer to weight loss. But they may help you make the lifestyle changes that you need to practice to lose weight and improve your health.
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Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
15th January 2025