Thinz and Eatless, are not available without a doctor's prescription anymore

The department of health adjusted the scheduling of some medication containing ephedrine, pseudo ephedrine and d-nor-pseudo ephedrine. Over-the-counter appetite suppressants with d-nor-pseudo ephedrine used to be schedule 2 medication, but since last month they have been changed to schedule 6 medication.



"It's about the safety of the public," Mandisa Hela from the South African Medicine Control Council (MCC) told Die Burger.

Criminals use ephedrine products to make the drug Tik, and teenagers abuse appetite suppressants by using them as stimulants when they go to parties or to stay awake when studying into the early hours of the morning. Pseudo ephedrine products were rescheduled overseas years ago.

Source: Health 24

Women who are obese are at a significantly increased risk of developing Barrett's oesophagus

Women who are obese are at a significantly increased risk of developing Barrett's oesophagus, researchers reported here at Digestive Diseases Week 2008 (DDW).
Dr. Jacobson and colleague Charles S. Fuchs, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, analysed data on 18,428 women participating in the Nurses' Health Study, a large prospective cohort study ongoing since 1976.

All the women had undergone oesophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD); at the same time, they were each asked if they had been diagnosed with Barrett's oesophagus and about the presence and frequency of heartburn/acid-reflux symptoms.

The investigators obtained and reviewed endoscopy and pathology records from the women reporting Barrett's oesophagus, and they used data from oesophageal biopsy to identify cases with specialised intestinal metaplasia (SIM).

The researchers excluded women reporting Barrett's oesophagus who did not have documented SIM and women with a history of cancer before 1980.

The researchers categorised the women by their BMI in 1980 (<25,>30 kg/m2), and they used standard statistical models to calculate the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the risk of Barrett's oesophagus. They adjusted their calculations for age and potential confounding variables as reported in 1980, including physical activity, smoking, menopause status, postmenopausal hormone use, diabetes, and intake of calories, alcohol, coffee, tea, soda, and chocolate.

The investigators reported that, among 18,428 women who underwent EGD, 763 reported having Barrett's oesophagus, and 255 were confirmed to have SIM diagnosed after 1980.

They found that the mean Barrett's oesophagus segment length was 1.7 cm.

Compared with women with a BMI <25,>30 had an OR of 1.62 (95% CI, 1.08-2.42).

Notably, a history of frequent reflux symptoms was significantly associated with Barrett's oesophagus (multivariate OR = 2.79; 95% CI, 1.96-3.97).

When the investigators added symptoms of gastro-oesophageal reflux to the multivariate model, the relation between BMI and Barrett's oesophagus was markedly reduced (OR = 1.22; 95% CI, 0.72-2.08 for women with BMI >30).

The researchers found that height, waist-to-hip ratio, and waist circumference were not significantly associated with Barrett's oesophagus.

The authors concluded, "Obesity (BMI >30 kg/m2) is associated with a significant increase in the risk of Barrett's oesophagus. This risk appears to be mediated through gastro-oesophageal reflux."

Source: Digestive Diseases Week

Anti-obesity drug taranabant demonstrated significant weight loss

Results of a phase 3 study on the experimental anti-obesity drug taranabant demonstrated significant weight loss with relatively few treatment discontinuations, according to a presentation here at the 16th European Congress on Obesity (ECO). Taranabant, however, carries an appreciable risk of adverse psychiatric and gastrointestinal side effects depending on dosage.

The randomised study of 2,502 obese patients, presented on May 16, took place over 52weeks, noted Joseph Proietto, MD, Sir Edward Dunlop Chair of Medicine, University of Melbourne, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia.

Part of the cohort received placebo, he explained, while the others received taranabant in doses of 2, 4, or 6 mg.

Early in the trial, Dr. Proietto and colleagues re-randomised the subjects, taking those who had received 6 mg of taranabant to 2 mg or placebo after it was observed that the patients had a higher incidence of adverse psychiatric and gastrointestinal effects without obtaining significantly greater benefit.

The patients in the placebo arm achieved an average weight loss of 2.6 kg. The patients in the 2-mg arm achieved an average weight loss of 6.6 kg. The patients in the 4-mg arm achieved an average weight loss of 8.1 kg.

Approximately 57% of the patients in the 2-mg group achieved a minimum weight loss of 5%, compared with approximately 27% of patients in the placebo group.

There were other positive effects as well. Waist circumferences, for example, shrank an average of 3.1% in the patients receiving placebo, 7% in those receiving 2-mg taranabant and 7.5% in those receiving 4 mg. High-density lipoproteins (commonly known as "good cholesterol") increased, too -- by an average of 7% in the patients receiving placebo, 13.2% in those receiving 2-mg taranabant, and 14.1% in those receiving 4 mg.

At the same time, high proportions of patients suffered adverse effects. In patients who received placebo, 28.5% had gastrointestinal problems, compared with 41.8% in patients who received 2-mg taranabant, and 46.7% in patients who received 4 mg. The gastrointestinal problems included nausea and diarrhoea.

Similarly, 20.4% of patients who received placebo encountered psychiatric problems, compared with 28.3% who received 2-mg taranabant and 40.2% who received 4 mg. The psychiatric problems included depression, anxiety, and irritability.

Nevertheless, there were relatively few discontinuations of the treatment due to the adverse gastrointestinal and psychiatric effects. Discontinuations due to adverse gastrointestinal effects were 0.7 % in the placebo arm, 1.7% in the 2-mg arm, and 2.7% in the 4-mg arm. Discontinuations due to adverse psychiatric effects were 4.6% in the placebo arm, 8.9% in the 2-mg arm, and 12.5% in the 4-mg arm.

"In combination with diet and exercise, treatment with 2 mg of taranabant was generally well tolerated and led to meaningful weight loss and improvements in obese and overweight patients," Dr. Proietto concluded.

Taranabant is known as a cannabinoid-1 receptor (CB1R) blocker.

Source: Doctor's Guide

The typical woman will go on two diets every year

With each one lasting an average of five weeks. That adds up to 104 diets between the ages of 18 and 70, in total lasting the equivalent of ten years. One in ten women goes even further, spending 25 years or more dieting. The poll of 4,000 women by LIPObind, a firm which makes natural weight-loss supplements, found a third started their first diet at the age of 16 or under.
Thirty-nine per cent said they tried to lose weight because they were embarrassed about their looks.

However, 32 per cent were concerned they will be responsible for making their own children fat or obese.
With each diet seeing an average of 6.3lbs dropping off, that means women could lose almost a stone every year.

However, a quarter of all women lose nothing at all, and the fact that the average woman embarks on at least two diets every year suggests any weight they do lose does not stay off.

Dr Glenn Wilson, of the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College, London, said: ‘This highlights just how much women think about their weight and the pressure associated with keeping in shape.’
"Women's weight is bound to fluctuate due to life changing events such as having a baby, emotional factors associated with relationships and changes in their working environment. "These changes and yo-yo dieting seems often to go hand in hand.

"Feeling healthy and in shape can make such a difference to overall well-being yet many people struggle to reach and sustain their ideal figure with a shocking 25 per cent who would even be willing to go under the knife to get rid of their extra pounds."

The survey also showed that more than 41 per cent of women admitted they feel like they are constantly on a diet or watching what they eat, 44 per cent say that no matter what they do, they never seem to lose weight, and 59 per cent don't think they will ever achieve the shape they want.

According to the research, the average woman aspires to be a size 10, however a quarter believe being a size eight or under as ideal. Thirty nine per cent of people have been so embarrassed by their looks, they have lied about their dress size or weight.

And 77 per cent of people would support a ban on airbrushing pictures of celebrities and models in a bid to take the pressure of normal women. Another 39 per cent even get shy when they come to stripping off in front of their partner.

However, it's not just our own weight we are worrying about. A total of 32 per cent of women are concerned that they will be responsible for making their own children fat or even obese.

Source: DailyMail

Tesofensine helps patients with obesity to lose weight

The experimental anti-obesity drug tesofensine not only helps patients with obesity to lose weight, but also helps them to lose the right kind of weight and in the right places, researchers reported here at the 16th European Congress on Obesity (ECO). Danish researchers studied the effects of tesofensine on body composition, including body weight, fat mass, waist circumference, and sagittal diameter (a measure of the upper abdomen).

The team was led by Anders Sjodin, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Human Nutrition, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.

The study, presented on May 16, was a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2b trial of 203 otherwise healthy men and women with obesity (defined as body mass index between 30 and 40).

After a diet and exercise lead-in period of 2 weeks, the patients were put on 24 weeks of tesofensine in once-daily doses of 0.25 mg, 0.5 mg, 1.0 mg, or corresponding placebo.

Body weight loss was 2.3 kg for the placebo group, 6.8 kg for the 0.25-mg group, 11.4 kg for the 0.50-mg group, and 12.7 kg for the 1.0-mg group.

Sagittal diameter decreased 0.6 cm in the placebo group, 2.1 cm in the 0.25-mg group, 3.3 cm in the 0.5-mg group, and 3.5 cm in the 1.0-mg group.

Waist circumference decreased 3.0 cm in the placebo group, 6.4 cm in the 0.25-mg group, 9.8 cm in the 0.5-mg group, and 9.8 cm in the 1.0-mg group.

Of particular importance to the research were the measurements for reduction in fat mass. Fat mass decreased 2.8 kg in the placebo group, 5.7 kg in the 0.25-mg group, 9.2 kg in the 0.5-mg group, and 10.1 kg in the 1.0-mg group. The reductions accounted for 108% of total weight loss in the placebo group, 85% in the 0.25-mg group, 81% in the 0.5-mg group, and 79% in the 1.0-mg group.

"Eighty percent [of the weight reduction] could be accounted for by a reduction in fat mass," said Dr. Sjodin.

"The concomitant decrease seen in sagittal diameter and waist circumference, therefore indicates that tenofensine is highly effective in reducing central obesity," Dr. Sjodin concluded.

Dr. Sjodin and his collaborators also claimed that tesofensine was shown to result in weight reductions that are twice that produced by currently available anti-obesity drugs.

Tesofensine acts by inhibiting the presynaptic uptake of the neurotransmitters noradrenaline, dopamine, and serotonin.

Source: Docguide.com

Probiotics helps you to lose more weight after gastric bypass surgery

In a study conducted at Stanford University, obese patients who took probiotics after undergoing gastric bypass surgery lost more weight than patients who had the surgery but did not take the supplements. These findings were presented Tuesday during Digestive Disease Week 2008 by Dr. John M. Morton, during a session on the management of patients with obesity.


"We have better treatments for crack cocaine addiction than we do for obesity," Dr. Morton asserted, "but there has been a real revolution with bariatric (obesity) surgery. It provides strikingly durable weight loss...As a result, blood pressures will normalize...We have seen diabetes cure rates of 82 percent, and this can occur within weeks of surgery."

According to the World Health Organization: "probiotics are live microorganisms which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit." Most probiotics are bacteria similar to the type normally found the people's guts, the "good" bacteria, which helps maintain a balance in the digestive tract and may confer natural protection against disease. The most common probiotics taken as supplements are Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium.

The trial involved 44 patients who underwent gastric bypass surgery and were randomly assigned to receive either 2.4 billion lactobacilli daily or no probiotic therapy for the next 6 months. Quality of life, hydrogen (H2) breath tests, vitamin B12 levels and weight were measured before surgery and at 3 and 6 months afterward.

At six months, the probiotic group had lower H2 breath tests, lower fasting insulin, lipoprotein A and triglyceride levels, and higher HDL cholesterol levels compared with the placebo group, although the differences were not statistically significant.

There was, however, a significantly greater improvement in quality of life in patients taking probiotics compared with those taking placebo.

"What was surprising was that probiotic patients lost more weight after surgery," Morton told Reuters Health. The study group lost 70 percent of their excess weight after 6 months compared with a loss of 66 percent of excess weight in controls.

He added, "This suggests that the cause of the weight increase may be bacterial...and may help explain the observation that fat people have fat friends...Some of it may be environmental and related to social factors, but it may also be related to high bacteria levels in some way."

"We know that probiotics have to be live cultures and you have to (ingest) a minimum of two billion colonies a day," Morton said. "We don't know exactly which probiotic organisms are best and how much to recommended...The populations vary. They are different in the gut flora in different patient types."

At the very least, probiotics are safe, Morton said. "There doesn't seem to be any downside to taking them," he added.

Source: Yahoo news

A high protein, low carbohydrate diet is most effective

A high protein, low carbohydrate diet is most effective at reducing hunger and promoting weight loss, at least in the short term. Healthy, obese men were given two different diets during their stay in the Rowett’s specialised Human Nutrition Unit. Both diets had a high protein content (30% of total energy value of the diet) but they differed in the amount of carbohydrate: One diet was low in carbohydrate (4%) and the other contained a moderate amount of carbohydrate (35% total energy value).

“Our volunteers found both diets to be equally palatable, but they felt less hungry on the high-protein low-carbohydrate diet compared with the diet which contained high-protein but moderate amounts of carbohydrate,” said Dr Alex Johnstone, the Rowett’s weight-loss expert who led the study.

“Weight loss during the two four week study periods was greater on the high-protein low-carbohydrate diet, averaging 6.3 kg per person, compared with 4.3 kg on the moderate carbohydrate diet,” said Dr Johnstone.

An important part of this study was to unravel the physiological mechanisms behind this type of diet. It is known that when people eat low carbohydrate diets, within a relatively short time their body has to switch from using glucose as a fuel to using something different called ketone bodies. Ketone bodies are appetite-suppressing and they may have an effect on the appetite centres in the brain. It’s also well known that protein itself is very good at making people feel full-up.

“In this study, we showed that on the high-protein low-carbohydrate diet the volunteers became ketogenic within 1-2 days of starting this diet and so it may be that high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets are particularly effective because of the combined effect of the protein and the ketone bodies,” said Dr Johnstone.

“We showed that the volunteers on the ketogenic diet reduced their energy intake without increasing their hunger and this was a very important factor in their ability to stick to the diet.”

Dr Johnstone sounds a note of caution about her findings: “A paper published last year from the same study showed that low carbohydrate diets may have consequences for the health of the gut by dramatically reducing the numbers of particular types of bacteria. So we will be looking in more detail at the complex way in which we respond to changes in our diet before we can say whether low-carbohydrate ketogenic diets are a suitable tool for everyone who wants to lose weight.”

When the phase of the study which involved the volunteers finished in October 2004, it attracted considerable interest because of its celebrity volunteer, Cameron Stout, who lost just over 12 kg during his nine week stay at the Rowett Institute. At the time, Cameron mentioned his surprise at not feeling hungry during the study and said he had adjusted to eating smaller portions.

Source: ScienceDaily