Regular exercise involving nothing more than pure sweat and willpower has traditionally been the way in which to achieve the aforementioned results. Today, science is now indicating that staying trim is more complex than previously thought. For people who have genes that predispose you to becoming overweight there is often no level of exercise and healthy eating that can ward off an your eventual weight gains.

Too many hours spent working, simply not being able to withstand your favorite fatty foods or poor DNA, soon your waistline could be changing for the better. Good old fashioned correct diet and regular exercising will still be important, but what may soon be making all the difference is a few pills or surgical operations.

Roughly 10 years ago the holy grail of weight loss, a magic pill, moved a significant step forwards. New York's Rockefeller University made the discovery of leptin, a hormone that was able to control fat levels in your body. Today's advanced knowledge of how our metabolism, alongside the methods by which fat cells increase or decrease in size, add much weight to the hopes that a new highly effective diet pill may finally have arrived.

Whilst there are a whole range of opinions on the latest fat-combating tools coming from the scientific community, both for and against. Important and current all new fat fighting medications are now detailed:

Rimonabant

This drug, made and being tested by French company Sanofi-Synthelabo, is unusual in that unlike most other drugs it targets both the brain and the gut decreasing the time taken for users to reach satiation as well as overall hunger levels.

This product is set for release to the general public in around 2 years from now, if further clinical testing proves a success.

Axokine

Leptin was hoped to be a major player in reducing peoples weight, unfortunately obese people were found to be resistant to its effects of signaling the brain to stop eating. Regeneron, a company based in the state of New York, has been experimenting with proteins that affect the same brain regions that leptin does.

This new protein tells the brain that all of the body's fat cells don't require any extra nutrients. Since only 15% of people react to the drug research has turned to ways with which to determine whether people may have the genes necessary for success.

Gastric Pacer

Gastric bypasses are current surgical operations that reduce the stomach's size to that of a tennis ball, at the same time increasing your risk of respiratory cessation, hear attacks and possibly even death.

Gastric pacers, created in the 1990's by an Italian doctor, are the size of a matchbox, use batteries and are placed surgically under the skin of your abdomen. 2 wires extending around the stomach constantly send out electric pulses that make the brain think the individual is 'full' at an earlier time than usual. This device is believed to be best used by those people who are dangerously obese and don't want the nasty side effects of gastric bypasses.

If the current 200 patient trials finish successfully the FDA will be able to offer approval.

PYY

London's Hammersmith Hospital in the mid 1990's discovered an intestinal protein called peptide YY3-36 (PYY) that lowered peoples appetites. Overweight persons were seen to produce roughly a third less of this protein. The scientists involved reasoned that this shortcoming in obese people could be overcome by simply increasing PYY levels through using a nasal spray before mealtimes. Having been seen so far as very effective, allowing a potential of 6+ pounds to be lost per month per person,the drug's future looks very positive, the only side effect being occasional mild nausea.

At present human trials are scheduled, shops potentially receiving this drug in 3-4 years.

Fat Blasters

Houston's M.D. Anderson Cancer Center saw a way to kill cancer cells in mice by cutting the blood vessels supplying the mass' of tissue. The same scientists then thought that this technique could be used to reduce the size of fat cells. Researchers found out how to make fat cells shrink, they also realized they could starve the blood flow to them making them starve until death resulted.

Fat laboratory mice were seen to reduce their total body weight by around 30% in a week after being injected with a substance known as synthetic peptide. Correspondingly, the mice got reduced blood-sugar and cholesterol levels, an additional benefit.

The drug at present appears to need many more years of testing until proven to be safe.