Arena Pharmaceutical’s weight loss treatment Locaserin gained FDA approval for use in treating obesity. Arena will be manufacturing the drug at their facilities in Switzerland and will be marketing the product under the trade name Belviq.
The FDA’s decision has made news across the world as Locaserin is the only weight loss treatment to gain FDA approval in over a decade and the size of the potential market for the treatment means that Arena stand to make a significant amount of profit. In trials that were conducted for over a year Belviq produced an average reduction in body weight of 3.7%.
Belviq is an appetite suppressant which uses the brain’s serotonin 2C receptors to control the urge to eat. It is approved for use as a treatment for obese patients who meet certain criteria but the FDA approval requires the drug to be used alongside a weight loss and exercise program.
Janet Woodcock, Director at the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research is of the firm opinion that obesity is “a major public health concern,” and she believes that Belviq gives another important treatment option for obese patients if it is taken “responsibly in combination with a healthy diet and lifestyle.”
There are many well established regimes which can be followed to both lose weight and exercise. The Dukan Diet is one of the most popular but anyone taking Belviq will of course need to heed the guidance given by their own doctor when working out which plan to follow.
The FDA approval is limited to use in those patients who have a Body Mass Index(BMI) in excess of 30 or a BMI greater than 27 if they are suffering with another serious health complication such as increased cholesterol levels, diabetes or high blood pressure.
Like almost every prescription drug taking Belviq may result in unwanted side effects some of which are more serious than other. Due to the fact that Belviq triggers the serotonin receptors those taking medications which also effect serotonin need to be careful as high levels of serotonin can result in serotonin syndrome a condition which can be deadly if not recognised and dealt with. Drugs which influence serotonin are often prescribed to treat migraines and depressive disorders.
Taking Belviq can also make you giddy and feel queasy, it can make you tired or constipated and it can make it difficult to concentrate and remember things. Diabetics need to watch their blood sugar levels with vigilance as it can lead to low blood sugar levels. They may also suffer with backache.
Five Top Weight Loss Tips
Here are five great tips to help you lose weight. They are not magic bullets, just practical common sense steps that can easily be incorporated into your every day life, helping you to stop and then reverse the upwards creep of your weight.
You don’t need to do them all, but the more you do the better the impact and don’t forget that losing weight not only makes you look better, it also does wonders for your health.
Number One – Crank Up Your Metabolism
If you don’t have a lot of weight to lose rather than go on a diet why not increase the amount of exercise that you are doing. The great thing about exercise is that your metabolism feels the benefits long after the exercise has finished.
Number Two – Downsize Your Portions
As the size of our waists have increased over the years so have the size of the portions of food that we eat and probably the popularity of the super size me takeaway has something to do with it.
Again this is a very easy thing to put right and one of the most popular ways of achieving this is to just use smaller plates. It might seem very strange, but although we know that we our eating less, for some reason when our brain sees a smaller amount of food than it is used to seeing, brimming over a smaller plate somehow it doesn’t register the reduction in portion size. It thinks that we have lots to eat.
Number Three – Take Time To Eat
This is another thing which fools the brain.
Eating your food slowly and taking time to enjoy it, gives the brain time to register the food you are eating and this triggers the chemical signals which tell you that you have eaten enough. Eating on the hoof so to speak means that we eat quickly and don’t pay a lot of attention to what we are eating. This could well be the reason for the larger portion sizes that we are now eating.
Number Four – Only Eat When Hungry but Don’t Over Do it
This one requires the application of some common sense so although you should only eat when you are hungry (and you should also stop eat once you no longer fell hungry) it doesn’t mean skipping meals. There is no point eating when you are not hungry but skipping meals often means that you over compensate at the next meal.
Number Five – Clear Out Your Cupboards
This tip is to clear out all unsuitable food and drinks from your kitchen cupboards (and freezer and refrigerator). It is so much easier not to give into that sudden urge to eat 3 bars of chocolate if you don’t have 3 bars of chocolate to eat!!
You need to stock up on all the foods, drinks and ingredients that you will need to successfully follow your diet. Remember that there are many sources where you can find different recipes for your diet.