New slimming drug that blocks the urge to eat

13 April 2012

A drug which blocks the urge to eat could help tackle obesity and help diabetics shed pounds and inches, a study shows.

Belgian researchers said overweight patients given the largest dose of rimonabant slimmed down by almost four times as much as those receiving a dummy pill.

They said the drug could provide a new treatment approach as it also improves control of blood glucose levels and other heart disease risk factors in people with type 2 diabetes, which is usually diagnosed in adulthood.

The findings, published online by The Lancet, showed patients given the placebo for a year lost an average of 3lbs compared with 5lbs in those given 5 mg per day of rimonabant and 11.7lbs in those given a 20 mg a day dose of the drug.

Rimonabant works by blocking the endocannabinoid system in the brain which regulates hunger. Patients given the drug also had greater improvements in waist circumference, blood glucose control, blood lipids, and better appetite control than those given the placebo.

Diabetes is associated with an increased risk of heart disease, and often coexists with other risk factors such as obesity, unhealthy blood lipid levels, and raised blood pressure. The treatment of these risk factors is central to the management of type 2 diabetes.

In the latest study Professor Andre Scheen, of the University of Liege, and colleagues investigated the effects of rimonabant on 1,047 overweight or obese patients with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes, the more common insulin resistant form of the disease, despite treatment with standard diabetes drugs.

The patients were given a diet plan that provided slightly fewer calories than they needed and were advised to be more physically active, to help induce weight loss.

They were also given either rimonabant - in a dose of either five mg per day or 20 mg per day - or a placebo. The patients followed the plan for a year.

Prof Scheen said that after a year the patients given rimonabant shed "significantly more weight than those given the placebo".

He said: "Being overweight or obese - in particular, abdominally obese - increases the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, yet those with diabetes often have more difficulty in losing weight and experience weight gain associated with most antidiabetic medications."

The results extend previous findings in non diabetic overweight or obese patients to those with type 2 diabetes, he said.

Added Prof Scheen: "These findings support the use of 20 mg per day of rimonabant, in addition to diet and exercise, as a new approach to reduce bodyweight and improve blood glucose control as well as several other cardiovascular risk factors in overweight or obese patients with type 2 diabetes that was inadequately controlled by standard treatment."

Dr Stephen Cleland and Dr Naveed Sattar, of the British Heart Foundation Glasgow Cardiovascular Research Centre, said despite public awareness of the importance of a healthy lifestyle in the prevention of diabetes, heart disease and cancer, the "global tide of obesity rises unabatedly".

They added: "Therefore, until there is na sea change in society's attitude to obesity and, with it, an appetite for environmental improvements, the role of drug therapy must be given serious consideration."

Rimonabant provides "a potential novel therapy" in the fight against obesity and diabetes although further longer term studies are required before the drug becomes a routine treatment, they said.

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