FDA seeks recall on weight loss pills

Wed. Dec 24, 2008

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a nationwide alert warning people about more than 25 different over-the-counter weight loss products.  The warning comes after the FDA analyzed the products and found undeclared, active pharmaceutical ingredients at concentrations exceeding safe concentrations.

"These tainted weight loss products pose a great risk to public health because they contain undeclared ingredients and, in some cases, contain prescription drugs in amounts that greatly exceed their maximum recommended dosages," said Janet Woodcock, M.D., director, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, FDA. "Consumers have no way of knowing that these products contain powerful drugs that could cause serious health consequences."

FDA analysis detected sibutramine (a controlled substance), rimonabant (a drug not approved for marketing in the United States), phenytoin (an anti-seizure medication), and phenolphthalein (a solution used in chemical experiments and a suspected cancer causing agent) in the weight loss products.  Some of the amounts of active pharmaceutical ingredients far exceeded the FDA-recommended levels.

The weight loss products, some of which are marketed as "dietary supplements," are promoted and sold on various Web sites and in some retail stores. Some of the products claim to be "natural" or to contain only "herbal" ingredients, but actually contain potentially harmful ingredients not listed on the product labels or in promotional advertisements. These products have not been approved by the FDA, are illegal and may be potentially harmful to unsuspecting consumers. 

The FDA is seeking a recall on the following weight loss products:

• 2 Day Diet
• 3x Slimming Power
• 5x Imelda Perfect Slimming
• 3 Day Diet
• 7 Day Herbal Slim
• 8 Factor Diet
• 7 Diet Day/Night Formula
• 999 Fitness Essence
• Extrim Plus
• Fatloss Slimming
• GMP
• Imelda Perfect Slim
• Japan Lingzhi 24 Hours Diet
• Lida DaiDaihua
• Miaozi Slim Capsules
• Perfect Slim
• Perfect Slim 5x
• Phyto Shape
• ProSlim Plus
• Royal Slimming Formula
• Slim 3 in 1
• Slim Express 360
• Slimtech
• Somotrim
• Superslim
• TripleSlim
• Zhen de Shou
• Venom Hyperdrive 3.0

SOURCE: U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Europeans move to control useless health food products

Fri. Dec 12, 2008

In an attempt to control their weight, overweight and obese people in the United States spend billions of dollars on totally ineffective products.  Spending on unproven products for weight loss or other health benefits is reported at more than $35 billion annually. Similar spending in Europe has prompted the European Union (EU) to take action.   

Professor Lean from the University of Glasgow applauds a new Directive on Unfair Commercial Practices adopted this year by the EU.  He hopes it will afford some protection to vulnerable consumers tricked into to buying useless food products or supplements in attempts to combat their disease. However he is still concerned that people are being fooled into parting with large amounts of money for products that cannot help with weight control.

While unsubstantiated claims regarding the health and weight loss benefits of commercial products is illegal, misleading marketing, indirectly stated benefits, and claims of pseudo scientific validation of effectiveness continue to be made. Unlike medicines, food products marketed for health reasons are not subject to the same stringent research trials and control, and consumers are often misled.

The "commercial exploitation of vulnerable patients with quack medicines" will hopefully be brought to an end with the introduction of the new EU directive, say Lean. However, the laws need to be enforced proactively to enable doctors and consumers to move towards managing diseases confidently with evidence based treatment and diet programs.

He points out that, of all the hundreds of products currently on sale to help people lose weight, only energy-restricted diets and exercise, the drugs orlistat and sibutramine, and in some cases bariatric surgery, are safe, effective and cost-effective. The remainder, he says, are either not effective or not safe.

SOURCE: BMJ

Calorie cutting makes it harder to fight flu

Mon. Dec 08, 2008

Forget the old axiom "feed a cold, starve a fever;" conventional wisdom says staving off the effects of illness depends on maintaining adequate levels of nutrients and perhaps even a little extra in the tank to help deal with loss of appetite during illness.  However, people on calorie controlled diets may find combating flu more difficult says immunology professor Elizabeth Gardner from Michigan State University.

In a study published in the November issue of the Journal of Nutrition, Gardner showed that mice with a calorie-restricted diet were hit harder by infection than mice with a normal diet even though they were receiving adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals.

"If you are exposed to a new strain of influenza, to which your body has not made adequate antibodies to protect you from infection, your body must rely on cells that will kill the virus," Gardner said. "The natural killer cells are important in controlling the early stages of virus infection, because they act quickly once they encounter virus-infected cells. Calorically restricted mice have increased susceptibility to influenza and their bodies are not prepared to produce the amount of natural killer cells needed to combat the stress of fighting an infection."

"Our research shows that having a body ready to fight a virus will lead to a faster recovery and less-severe effects than if it is calorically restricted," Gardner said. "Adults can calorically restrict their diet eight months out for the year, but during the four months of flu season they need to bump it up to be ready. You need the reserves so your body is ready for any additional stress, including fighting a virus."

Calorically restricted diets in general have been shown to increase lifespan in everything from yeast to primates, according to Gardner. But the model used in Gardner's research can be extended to more vulnerable groups including children and the elderly, who don't eat as much but often take vitamin supplements.

Flu shots can't guarantee protection, in any case, since they are formulated months in advance and only can target a small handful of the many flu virus strains that might infect the population.

"If the strain of flu a person is infected with is different from the strain included in the flu vaccination, then your body sees this as a primary infection and must produce the antibodies to fight it off. A calorically restricted body is not as well prepared to do this and cannot control early infection, which impedes recovery," Gardner added.

SOURCE: Journal of Nutrition

Obesity may be a matter of taste

Wed. Dec 03, 2008

Penn State researchers are searching for a link between taste and body weight to find out if an abnormal craving for sugary food is linked to a reduced sensitivity for sweet tastes in some people.

Studies have suggested that obese persons are less sensitive to sweet taste and crave sweet foods more than lean people.

"When you have a reduced sensitivity to palatable foods, you tend to consume it in higher amounts," said Andras Hajnal, associate professor of neural and behavioral sciences at Penn State College of Medicine. "It is a vicious circle."

"When you have excess body weight, the brain is supposed to tell you not to eat more, or not choose high caloric meals" said Hajnal. "But this control apparently fails and thus the obesity epidemic is rising, and we want to find out how the sense of taste drives up food intake."

Using rats bred specifically for their obesity traits, the researchers found that the number of neurons activated in the brains of obese rats was far fewer than that of lean rats when eating foods of the same sweetness.

"If you sense sweetness less, you may be inclined to eat sweeter foods" said Hajnal.

Increased consumption of sweet foods over time could be influencing the brain's reward center by relaying progressively weaker nerve signals, which affects the perception of taste of the meals. Based on their studies, the researchers believe that larger meals and increased tendency toward sweet food may be the result of fewer feelings of reward when consuming smaller, less sweet meals

The findings linking taste responses and obesity could hold an important message for a condition that affects more than 60 percent of adult Americans.

For instance, Hajnal points to an ever-increasing amount of fat and sugar in processed foods. The enhanced taste of these foods, he says, stimulates our taste and food reward neurons on a chronic basis, making them less sensitive over time. And what do we do when this happens?

"Instead of eating less, we seek out higher palatability," Hajnal explained. "We simply start putting an extra spoonful of sugar in our coffee."

SOURCE: Journal of Neurophysiology

Care Needed with OTC Diet Pills

Thu. Nov 06, 2008

Over-the-counter weight-loss pills are no quick fix to melt away extra pounds. Many local drugstores sell diet pills, and even more choices are available on the Internet. But most diet pills haven't been proved safe or effective, and some are downright dangerous, according to a special report in the November issue of Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource.

The report looks at popular weight-loss diets, eating plans and strategies, including diet pills.

Pills containing ephedra are touted to decrease appetite. But they can cause dangerous side effects, including heart attacks, seizures, strokes and sudden death. Ephedra, although banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), can be purchased online. Herbal supplements that contain the plant-derived chemical ephedrine also are available online and can cause similar health problems.

Other weight-loss pills can contain a cocktail of ingredients, including herbs, botanicals, vitamins, minerals, caffeine or laxatives. It's too often unknown how these ingredients, individually or in combination, could affect individuals. The risk of adverse reactions increases when diet pills are taken with other medications.
The FDA has approved the weight-loss drug Alli, a reduced-strength version of the prescription drug orlistat (Xenical). Alli is taken with meals and promotes weight loss by decreasing absorption of fat by the intestines. It's intended for use as part of a reduced-calorie, low-fat diet. When individuals don't reduce fat in the diet, diarrhea and gas with oily spotting can be significant side effects.

While diet pill claims may be tempting, weight loss only happens when more calories are burned than consumed.

SOURCE: Mayo Clinic

Immunize against weight gain

Thu. Oct 30, 2008

Far fetched as it may sound, scientists at Scripps Research are working on immunizing against weight gain.

The theory behind the research is that antibodies working against the hormone ghrelin could provide an effective method for suppressing appetite and modifying how the body uses energy.

Grehlin, the hormone released by the body in response to calorie restriction, promotes eating and fat storage. Higher levels of ghrelin are produced before meals and fall away after eating.  During weight loss, higher levels of ghrelin are produced in an attempt to stimulate hunger and end food deprivation.

Immunizing with anti-ghrelin antibodies, such as GHR-11E11, could decrease levels of ghrelin and reduce its effect on appetite and fat storage role.

"The reason we looked at passive immunopharmacotherapy to treat obesity was because agonist/antagonist types of drugs have been remarkably unsuccessful," says Ely J Callaway, a Professor of Chemistry at the Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology. "They are effective only while treatment is maintained and when treatment stops, weight returns. For obesity treatments to work, they must affect food intake and energy expenditure or storage - which is what this new catalytic antibody does by degrading ghrelin. Some people have the idea that because ghrelin is an endogenous hormone there might be too many adverse side effects if you eliminate it, but there is new evidence that the body itself produces antibodies against ghrelin."

Because obesity is such a complex disease, any antibody-based treatment would be just one part of a comprehensive treatment plan including nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle modification.  However, with focused research and development of more effective grehlin antibodies, weight control could be just an injection away.

SOURCE: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Government cash programs linked to adult obesity

Thu. Oct 23, 2008

Government programs aimed at improving health and cognitive outcomes in children have an unforeseen downside for adults say researchers from the University of California at Berkeley.

The programs, originating in Mexico, have spread to the United States, and over 20 other countries around the world. They provide money for impoverished families on the condition that they participate in health checkups and other activities such as hygiene and nutrition seminars.

While the impact of these programs has proved positive for children, participation has shown an increase in obesity and hypertension for adult participants.

"It's a controversial finding because it suggests that adults are not necessarily spending the money wisely for themselves," said the studies author, Lia Fernald. "It's not clear why the cash is having this effect, but it could be because people who suddenly have more cash are able to buy more high-calorie soft drinks, alcohol or snacks that they couldn't afford before, though we did not analyze how the money was spent in our study. This result could also reflect trends in the developing world, particularly in rapidly changing economies, of increased availability of foods high in fat and sugar in place of healthier cereals, fruits and vegetables."

The assistance program called "Oportunidades," shows great benefit in early stages, but this latest research suggests that the longer that families are involved, and the more money they receive cumulatively, the poorer the outcomes for adults become. The study links larger amounts of cash given to families with higher body mass index, higher diastolic blood pressure and a higher prevalence of overweight and moderate to severe obesity in adults.

The researchers note that the central aims of the Oportunidades program is health promotion in children and in this regard the program is successful.  They say that it is not unusual for adults to make better health and nutrition decisions for their children than for themselves and that the strong focus on health education and prevention is a critical part of any cash transfer or welfare program targeting adults.

SOURCE: Journal of Nutrition

Parents often wrong estimating weight of their children

Wed. Oct 22, 2008

Think you know if your child is in an average weight range? It may surprise you to learn that your perception of your child's weight is probably wrong. Dr Pene Schmidt from the University of Melbourne says that nearly half of parents mistakenly believe their child is in an average weight range when, in fact, they are overweight or underweight for their age.

"Parents are unlikely to take the necessary preventative actions if the perception of their child's weight - whether underweight or overweight - is incorrect,'' she says.

Under or over estimating weight is more likely for children outside the average range. For parents of average weight children, 80 percent correctly identified their child's weight range. However, this number dropped to 49 percent for overweight, and 43 percent for underweight children.

It also appears that our perception of weight is at least partially dependent on the sex of our child.  Parents of boys were more likely to report them as underweight and, as a result, less likely to identify them as overweight. Concern about children being overweight was twice as likely as concern about children being underweight.

Dr Schmidt said the study showed that parents and children were struggling to determine whether they were the correct weight. She said this showed there needed to be more research to determine how to best define children's weight status - and how to communicate this to children and parents.

"This study also suggests a strong social bias among both parents and children towards thinness,'' she said. "While public health campaigns are directed towards the prevention of obesity, it's also important that the messages are getting through to the right groups."

"In particular we need to make sure that the focus on reducing the number of overweight children does not have the adverse impact of increasing the number of underweight children."

SOURCE: University of Melbourne

Reduced rewards from food may lead to weight gain

Mon. Oct 20, 2008

Overweight people may receive less pleasure from eating food then normal weight people say researchers from the University of Texas.  Reduced activity of the brain's rewards system while eating may cause people to eat greater quantities, or select calorie dense foods to get more pleasure from eating.

When a person eats, their brain's reward centre responds by releasing the messenger molecule dopamine.

Using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, researchers observed brain activity of lean and overweight people as they drank chocolate milkshakes and compared this with brain activity while drinking tasteless liquids.  They also tested each participant in the study to identify those with a lower than average number of dopamine receptors.

Compared to the brains of lean people, the brains of obese people showed less activation in the part of the brain associated with reward while drinking the milkshake.

Eric Stice, a psychology researcher who has studied obesity for nearly 20 years, says that people with fewer dopamine receptors: "Need to take in more of a rewarding substance -- such as food or drugs -- to experience the same level of pleasure as other people." He concludes that overeating may compensate for the reward deficit in people with fewer dopamine receptors

After following the study participants for 12 months, Stice and his colleagues found that participants with fewer dopamine receptors and showed less brain activation during eating were the ones most likely to gain weight during the follow up period.

Stice said understanding how the dopamine receptor deficit affects the brain's reward circuits and their response to eating is important for the development of treatment options that could target this effect in people at higher risk of unhealthy weight gain.

SOURCE: Science

Parental love is blind

Tue. Oct 07, 2008

As parents, most of us tend to view our children as perfect in every way. We overlook behavioral and physical issues in our children that others have little difficulty seeing.  The extent to which parents are oblivious to apparently obvious issues with their children may pose a health risk according to Rona L. Levy, Ph.D. from the University of Washington in Seattle. Measuring parental perceptions of their children's current weight and perceived risk for developing obesity as an adult, Levy found that few parents recognized obesity problems in their children.

During the study, Levy measured height and weight of children in the 5-9 age group at a routine medical visit. Parents of children with elevated body mass index, indicating increased risk of obesity related illness, were mailed a series of questionnaires. The questionnaires were designed to elicit information about the parent's perception of their child's current weight and potential future risk.

Less than 13 percent of the parents of overweight kids reported their child as currently overweight. Fewer than one-third perceived that their child's risk for adult obesity was above average or very high.

"Clearly there is a significant misperception by parents of their child's weight and risk for obesity,' said Dr. Levy. "If we are going to address the growing epidemic of childhood obesity, parents' description and awareness of their children's overweight will have to be much more accurate," said Dr. Levy.

SOURCE: American Journal of Gastroenterology