The Latest in Weight Loss Treatment

With so few licensed slimming pills on the market it is vital that one seek out the advice of their doctor before experimenting with anything that can be purchased to aid weight loss. Treatments that have not been approved for license are sold everywhere even in health shops.

Because the companies who manufacture them have not sought the approval of the appropriate regulatory bodies, their drugs are not tested by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) of the US and the EMA (European Medicines Agency) here in the UK. This means that no one can be certain of the content of these drugs or what effects they might have on unsuspecting dieters.

It is quite accidental when we here that a 'herbal' drug has been found to contain large amounts of drugs that should only be available on prescription. In an ideal world all health supplements would be regulated by the appropriate and soon they will be.

For the moment it is advisable to take only prescribed treatments for weight loss or any other condition for that matter. Side effects are likely to be experienced while taking most prescription drugs but if they are prescribed by a doctor; this will mean that regular follow-ups and monitoring are par for the course.

Those who have a BMI of over 30 and who are at a stage where nothing has worked and where surgery is looking like the only option, are sometimes prescribed phentermine. This is a very powerful drug and often addictive in cases and is likened to an amphetamine. Phentermine should only be taken in such circumstances.

Qnexa, the latest weight loss treatment hopeful to be considered by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) as a treatment contains topirimate and phentermine however this new formulation has not been shown to cause any of the side effects associated with phentermine in the past.

It is not just drugs that need approval but fad diets are potentially as harmful. The HCG diet is everywhere, the media are raving, the celebs are raving and even some doctors are raving. This diet is not approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and many say that the only reason that people are seeing results (weigh loss of 1 pound per day) is down to the 500 calorie a day diet that must accompany the hormone injections.

Advocates argue that the HCG diet will get rid of the weight in 'diet resistant' areas on the body such as the flabby upper arms, thighs and the beer belly but no evidence has been gathered to support this claim.

In addition to the lack of information we have on the effects of this type of diet long term and the poor nutritional practice that it is based on, the expense is astronomical. The syringes and the hormone will run the monthly bill up to somewhere in the thousands but I suppose the food bill will be substantially less making this indulgence slightly more affordable.