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Senior Citizen Health & Medicine
Does New Over-the-Counter Diet Pill alli Live Up to
Its Hype?
OTC strength orlistat works with healthy diet,
exercise, study finds
 June 13, 2007 -
Alli, the first and only
over-the-counter product for weight loss approved by the Food and Drug
Administration will be available Friday, June 15, and independent
research from the University of Kentucky says it works and it has been
proven safe by years as a prescription drug. But, a healthy diet and
exercise plan are absolutely necessary to lose the weight and keep it
off.
Orlistat, known by the brand name alli, works by
decreasing the amount of fat absorbed by the body. It is the OTC version
of Xenical, a prescription weight loss pill. The good news: Orlistat has
been tested and the prescription version has been used since 1999.
Last fall Dr. James Anderson, head of the UK
College of Medicine Metabolic Research Group, and his colleagues
examined the effects of OTC strength (60 mg) orlistat on mildly to
moderately overweight individuals.
The study was the first of its kind. Previously,
the drug's effects had only been studied in obese individuals. Study
participants took either orlistat or a placebo three times daily with
meals for 16 weeks. Results of that study showed those taking
OTC-strength orlistat did lose more weight than those taking the
placebo.
"Our research showed that people taking orlistat
and following low-fat diets lost almost five percent of their initial
body weight, about seven to15 pounds, over four months," Anderson said.
"While two to four pounds a month isn't dramatic,
steady weight loss of this amount can have major health benefits. For
example, the reduction in LDL-cholesterol, the bad-guy cholesterol, of
10 percent can reduce risk of heart attack by 20 percent."
Any successful dieter knows that long-term weight
loss is about lifestyle changes not quick fixes. While taking alli may
help you lose weight, it won't do all of the work for you. Anderson
stresses a healthy diet and exercise plan are absolutely necessary to
lose the weight and keep it off.
"This is the first over-the-counter medicine that
has proven effectiveness, says Anderson.
It is my hope that people will take one capsule
before each regular meal, breakfast, lunch, and supper, and alter their
fat and calorie intake," Anderson said.
"If they commit to exercise six days a week, most
people can lose weight steadily. All of us are in this for the long haul
and need to keep up healthy behaviors, not for days or weeks, but for
months and years. Doing regular physical activity and making good food
choices will help us be trimmer and give us more energy."
Editors Notes:
In striving to become a Top 20 public research
institution, the University of Kentucky is a catalyst for a new
Commonwealth a Kentucky that is healthier, better educated, and
positioned to compete in a global and changing economy. For more
information about UKs efforts to become a Top 20 university, please go
to
http://www.uky.edu/OPBPA/Top20.html
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