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lorcaserin

Fitness tips, Relaxation, Mind and Body
ReformedCharacter
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Re: lorcaserin

#162461

Postby ReformedCharacter » August 27th, 2018, 6:43 pm

Snorvey wrote:
A major study has found promising results for the safety of a weight-loss drug available in the US.



It goes on to say:

The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, says adults using the drug lorcaserin lost an average of 4kg (8.8lb) over 40 months.

9 pounds in forty months? For two hundred quid a month? Come on.

I think I lost about 9lb this morning with only a little effort.

No doubt doctors will find it easier to feed fat patients this tablet rather than prescribe a course of dieting and activity.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-45319393

The current levels of obesity are truly shocking. I was talking to my OH the other day (she has a problem with her weight) and managed to find a chart that showed both obesity levels and sugar consumption since WW2. I know that correlation does not imply causation but in this case I strongly suspect it does.

I agree, 9lb in over 3 years doesn't seem very impressive for the cost and the (as yet unknown) side-effects.

RC

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Re: lorcaserin

#162500

Postby vrdiver » August 27th, 2018, 11:38 pm

Snorvey wrote:
A major study has found promising results for the safety of a weight-loss drug available in the US.



It goes on to say:

The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, says adults using the drug lorcaserin lost an average of 4kg (8.8lb) over 40 months.

9 pounds in forty months? For two hundred quid a month? Come on.

I think I lost about 9lb this morning with only a little effort.

No doubt doctors will find it easier to feed fat patients this tablet rather than prescribe a course of dieting and activity.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-45319393


When I first read your post, my reaction was similar to yours, but I thought a look at the published study itself, rather than the BBC's reporting of it might shed more light on why this drug was of interest.

It turns out, from the details in the study*, that the target audience is older, obese, unfit adults:
Overall, the median age was 64 years, 64.2% of the patients were male, and the median BMI was 35. Patients had a high burden of coexisting conditions, including diabetes (in 56.8% of the patients), hypertension (90.4%), hyperlipidemia (93.6%), and chronic kidney disease (19.0%). A total of 8958 patients (74.7%) had established atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

For this group, there are significant dangers in using other drugs or sudden lifestyle changes, and (I suspect) a marked inability to follow such advise, change diet or even maintain weight levels, let alone reduce them.

It seems a shame that the BBC failed to mention this, as a quick read of their article implies it's just a weight loss drug, which any member of the population might give a go, rather than the slightly more specific sub-group actually targetted. The BBC seemed to prioritise reporting the cost of the drug without actually considering what the drug might be preventing and the cost (if not to the patient at least to the NHS) of not having the drug available to prescribe.

The study appears to show an improved cardiovascular health (lower BP, reduced CV incidents vs the placebo) and a reduction in weight. For Americans, with their current morbidity and consequent impact on mortality, this kind of drug may well be seen as significant.

Would NICE aprove it for use over here? I have no idea, but where America leads, we usually follow...

* https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1808721


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