Drug combo shows promise for obesity treatment (LiveScience.com)

Rachael Rettner, staff writer, MyHealthNewsDaily,
LiveScience.com Rachael Rettner, staff writer, Myhealthnewsdaily,
LiveScience.com - Mon Apr 11, 3:25 pm ET

A combination of two drugs - together with advice on healthy diet and exercise - may be an effective treatment for obesity, a new study suggests.

Participants at the study, which combination took the drug lost on average than those who took the placebo more weight. Seventy percent of subjects who took a high dose of the two drugs, phentermine and topiramate, experienced a 5 percent weight loss after a year.

The weight loss from this drug combination achieved was greater than in previous studies of patients, the Orlistat was seen, currently the only drug approved for the treatment of obesity in the long run.

The treatment can offer another option for those who failed to lose weight with current therapies, said study of researcher Dr. Kishore M. Gadde obesity clinical studies at Duke University Medical Center, Director of the programme.

"After it you have diet and exercise, only Orlistatfor long term treatment of obesity," Gaddesaid. "And if that help you, you have to surgery jump."

"This closes the gap, which changes the way of life, the treatments for obesity are potentially - diet and exercise - and surgery," said Gadde.

However, others argue highly selected patients in this study - only a few were per month by many, the eligible were chosen - so researchers do not know whether the general population of overweight and obese persons could lose the same amount of weight, said Dr. Pieter Cohen, Assistant General internist at Cambridge Health Alliance, involved in the study was Professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and one.

In addition, patients were not examined, after they stopped taking the medication, so that it is not clear whether the weight loss in the long run could be maintained. Patients may be on the medication for the rest of their lives, Cohen said, and the security of such a scheme is not known.

Although not common in the study, some patients on the drugs experienced serious side effects including anxiety and depression. Side effects were worse with a higher dose of the medication. There concern about the safety of weight loss drugs in recent years. In October, the weight loss meridia drug from the market was taken after it was associated with an increased risk of heart attack and stroke. And in February, the food and drug approval administration of weight-loss drug Contrave, citing concerns with the drug heart cardiovascular risks.

"They take what we need to know drugs increase or decrease the number of strokes and heart attacks of these patients will experience," Cohen said.

The study is published online today (April 11) in the journal the Lancet.

Drug combination

Phentermine approved by the food and Drug Administration for the short-term treatment of obesity, which means that it can take patients for about 12 weeks But no rigorously designed studies have investigated the effects of the drug in the long run. Topiramate is a drug for the treatment of seizures. It turned out to support weight loss in the previous studies, but often caused psychiatric side effects at high doses. It was thought that a combination of drugs with lower doses can be easier to bear.

2,487 Overweight or obese people from 93 centers in the United States involved in the new study. Participants were required to have at least two conditions their obesity, such as diabetes and high blood pressure.

Patients were randomly assigned to receive one of the three treatments: a placebo, phentermine and topiramate, or a higher dose of phentermine and topiramate. About 1,000 patients received the placebo, was given the low dose 500 and 1,000 took the high dose of the drug combination. All participants will receive information about healthy eating and lifestyle practices.

After an average 3 pounds (1.4 kg) lost a little more than a year, participants in the placebo group, participants in the lower dose drug combination group lost an average 18 pounds (8.1 kg) and those in the higher dose group lost an average of 22 pounds (10.2 kg).

21 Percent of the participants take the placebo achieved a 5 percent weight loss compared with low dose drug group, this weight loss achieved 62% and 70% in the higher dose drug group.

The drug combination could also lower blood pressure and insulin levels.

The combination of more effective than current obesity treatments possibly because the drugs they have several ways Act drugs on the body to move weight loss.

"If you have a drug with several mechanisms of action, there is a greater chance, which will be much more effective," Gadde said. "The brain has the ability to find a way to eat, if we will change only a small pathway again." "If you the appetite centers from a number of different angles are attacking, may have more success."

More research needed

Future studies need to check whether the drug combination effective as aggressive lifestyle would be intervention, Cohen said. In this study, participants were given reading describe healthy habits, but this type of intervention look not effective, he said. Cohen said aggressive interventions that strategically are helping patients about their weight loss and meeting with nutritionists, lead has been shown up to 10 percent weight loss.

Without this data, Cohen will suspect it is unlikely that the food and drug combination drug for the treatment of obesity, would allow administration, said Cohen.

"In fact, the FDA taken the data from this study and in the last year denied probably the benefits outweigh consent for this combination, since the risks" Cohen said, referring to the FDA decision last year, denied the approval in October, Qnexa, a drug which combined phentermine and topiramate. "This is a very small select group of patients, compare medications for doing nothing, and that is not the type of data that we need to decide whether a drug is really to make a difference in the lives of overweight and obese patients."

Passing on: A combination of two drugs after a year to a 10 percent weight loss in obese individuals generated. However, more research is needed to determine whether the results apply to the general population and investigate the safety of drugs.

MyHealthNewsDaily staff writer Rachael Rettner follow on Twitter @ RachaelRettner.

This story was provided by MyHealthNewsDaily, a sister website LiveScience.