how effective are weight lose medications

obesity... can you lose weight and keep it off with drugs

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in North America. Experts tell us that obesity is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors, and that once it develops it is notoriously resistant to treatment. People who are overweight usually want to lose weight for two reasons: First and foremost, to conform to a culture that models unrealistically thin beauty standards. Second, to prevent health risks such as high blood pressure and diabetes that sometimes accompany excess body fat. It's a desperate situation: too many people overweight, a condition extremely resistant to treatment, unobtainable standards of thinness, and health risks to boot. No wonder consumers are desperate for solutions. No wonder they hope there is a magic pill that will provide the answer.

Are there any magic pills?

Weight-loss medications are available, but they are certainly not magic. Most effective are the prescription drugs -- Redux and a two-drug combination known as fen/phen (for fenfluramine/phentermine). Unfortunately, their effectiveness is short-lived. Clinical studies have found that these drugs, in conjunction with diet therapy, can help overweight people lose 10 to 15 percent of their initial weight in six months, at which time the medication typically loses its effectiveness.

Obesity experts point out that this weight loss can produce significant improvements in blood sugar regulation, blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Theoretically, such improvements could reduce risk of heart disease, although long-term studies showing such an effect have not been performed. And long-term studies will probably never show such an effect, because in a majority of cases, patients regain most of their weight when the medications are discontinued.

Don't these drugs help some people lose weight and keep it off?

There are some great success stories of people who have achieved successful weight loss, but these comprise a small minority of the people who have tried to lose weight with the help of these drugs. People who successfully achieve and maintain weight loss do so only because they have changed "environmental factors," i.e., lifestyle factors that contributed to the obesity in the first place. The medications may have helped them get started on the behavior-change program that ultimately guaranteed their weight-loss success.