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New Drug Combo May Help Patients Lose Weight
October 10, 2006 - They were considered the most effective weight-loss drugs available, but almost a decade after Fen-Phen was pulled off the shelves, researchers are still looking for a formula to slide the scales toward skinny.
A clinical trial is now showing promise in melting away the pounds, WESH 2 News reported.
The shelves are full of promises to slim you down.
"There's a lot of them out there and believe me I tried all of them just about," said Maria Lightford, a clinical trial patient.
Some pills promise they'll whittle away the weight, and yet plenty of people say they've tried and failed.
"As soon as I lose the 10 (pounds), it some way or another finds me double," a dieter said. "It gets ridiculous, then it gets depressive, and then they don't do it, and then they say, 'Oh, what the heck, then I'm going to have another snack' or whatever."
A clinical trial is under way to see if these drugs will create the same success as Fen-Phen without the deadly consequences.
"Hopefully, we'll see a reasonable amount of weight loss," said Dr. Priscilla Hollander, an endocrinologist.
"In 10 weeks, I have lost 15 pounds," Lightford said.
Like Fen-Phen, this trial combines two drugs already approved by the Food and Drug Administration, where the side benefit has been weight loss. The idea is whether putting the two together will equal greater benefits for the patient.
"I don't feel as hungry. I feel like I'm more in control of when I'm eating instead of trying to eat everything in sight. I get full, and I stop," Lightford said.
"Most appetite drugs do affect seratonin because seratonin is a key message to stop eating," Hollander said.
In this study, Wellbutrin, an antidepressant, deals with seratonin. While an antiseizure drug goes for the dopamine, another messenger that tells the brain the body is full.
Lightford is one of 45 patients who will be followed for the next year. She said the early results are a boost that is helping her get on track to a healthy lifestyle, and she welcomes whatever help she can get.
"If it will help you lose weight, why not?" Lightford said.
Doctors said the potential side effects of these drugs could include numbness, tingling and a feeling of fogginess. Another phase of the trial will get under way in a matter of months.
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