At long last the US Food and Drug Administration has finally approved a diet pill which can be bought over-the-counter and which is aimed at adults suffering from obesity. But just how effective will this new drug be and is it going to be the answer for the many thousands of obese individuals who find that losing weight is extremely hard work?



To some extend we already have the answers to these questions because this is not a new drug at all but one that has been widely used in the United States since 1999. The drug, known as Orlistat, is in fact nothing more than a half-dose version of the prescription drug Xenical.

The traditional route for weight loss in cases of obesity is for doctors to start by recommending a regime of diet and exercise and, where this doesn't work, to move on to assist the dieting process with drugs such as Xenical. Finally, if this still proves unsuccessful, patients may be offered gastric bypass surgery as the ultimate weight loss solution. This background gives a clue to just how this new diet pill is designed to be used.

This is certainly not a case of taking a pill once a day and magically losing weight. Orlistat works by partially blocking the absorption of fat that is eaten and is most effective when it is taken three times a day with meals containing about fifteen grams of fat. If taken will meals containing more than the recommended fifteen grams of fat Orlistat can lead to bowel problems which, depending on who you talk to, may or may not be harmful.

Use of Orlistat can also interfere with the absorption of some vitamins and users should therefore take daily multivitamin tablets. The drug is not recommended for people taking any form of blood thinning medication or being treated for thyroid problems or diabetes.

Without an accompanying program of diet and exercise Orlistat will have little if any effect at all and you are only likely to derive any benefit from its use alongside a strict diet and exercise program. However, even here the results are likely to be marginal and many question whether the likely results (predicted from the known results from Xenical) make the use of Orlistat worthwhile.

Perhaps one further question we should ask is just why the FDA has approved this drug for over-the-counter use at this time. Obesity rates are now growing at epidemic proportions and there is mounting pressure to find a solution to this problem before it literally runs out of control. Many people would argue therefore that the licensing of Orlistat is nothing more than the FDA bowing to public pressure.

If, as many predict, Orlistat proves to be of little or no use at all it could actually do more harm than good as people suffering from obesity turn their attention towards the drug as the answer to their problem and away from the need to set themselves a strict program of diet and exercise.