Wednesday, March 27, 2013
The Whistle: Belviq...diet pill...delayed to the pharmacy shelv...
The Whistle: Belviq...diet pill...delayed to the pharmacy shelv...: Check out the story on a soon to be released weight loss drug in mondaymorning.com today. http://moneymorning.com/2013/03/27/once-its-...
Belviq...diet pill...delayed to the pharmacy shelves by the DEA!!! Good, more time to learn the truth!
Check out the story on a soon to be
released weight loss drug in mondaymorning.com today. http://moneymorning.com/2013/03/27/once-its-new-weight-loss-drug-hits-the-shelves-this-stock-is-headed-50-higher/
It speaks to the fact that the FDA approved
this long anticipated drug…but the DEA (yes, the Drug Enforcement Agency)
stepped in and slowed its release. The
DEA recommends the drug be released as a Schedule IV controlled substance because it has hallucinogenic properties and users could
develop psychiatric dependency on the drug.
The author of the article, Michael A.
Robinson, made one final comment that sums it up: ”Any drug that promises to slim down America
is one with a huge potential payout.” Seems
to be taking longer than anticipated to get those financial windfalls.
Promises,
promises…but to what end?
The new drug, Belviq
(lorcaserin), is made by Arena Pharmaceuticals and is promoted as an appetite
suppressant; an anorectic.
The FDA approved the medication for people who are obese (with a body mass index, or BMI, of 30 or higher) or who are overweight (with a BMI of 27 or above) and also have at least one weight-related health condition such as hypertension, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes.
Belviq is a serotonin 2C
receptor agonist. (Many antidepressants
and antipsychotic medications are SSRI’s).
So, drug information
suggests that the patient should be considered obese or overweight with health
issues and take the medication along with
diet and exercise. Oh…diet and exercise, too.
A significantly overweight
person must take this medication, diet, and exercise. How much will they lose and will they keep it
off long-term?
Well, after one year, about
5% starting weight is lost. In the
study, after a year of Belviq, diet, and exercise, the average weight loss was
12.5#. Arena Pharmaceuticals recommends discontinuing the drug if 5% of weight
is not lost in the first 3 months as it will unlikely promote meaningful weight
loss if it hasn’t worked by then.
So, a 5’3”, 250# woman taking Belviq, dieting,
and exercise can expect to lose 12.5 pounds in a year. After a year with diet, exercise, and the
drug..she would still weigh 237.5 pounds. Without the medication in trials, she
would expect to lose 7.5 pounds through diet and exercise.
**Less than 50% of dieters
without diabetes lost 5% of body weight (by recommendations, they should have
been off the medication after 3 months without a 5% loss in weight).
Longterm (between 2-3 years), lost weight is regained. When medication is stopped, weight is
regained.
Are there any Side
effects for this medication?
The most common side effects of Belviq in non-diabetic patients are headache, dizziness, fatigue, nausea, dry mouth and constipation; in patients with diabetes, side effects include low blood sugar, headache, back pain, cough and fatigue.
*There
was also some concern that Belviq caused tumors in animals and heart-valve
defects in people. A similar serotonin-based drug that had been approved for
weight loss — fenfluramine — was removed from the market in 1997 because of the
same heart concerns. Patients who develop signs or symptoms of valvular
heart disease, including dyspnea, dependent edema, congestive heart failure, or
a new cardiac murmur while being treated with BELVIQ should be evaluated and discontinuation
of BELVIQ should be considered.
*Patients
treated with BELVIQ should be monitored for the emergence or worsening of
depression, suicidal thoughts or behavior, and/or any unusual changes in mood
or behavior. Discontinue BELVIQ in patients who experience suicidal thoughts or
behaviors.
*Belviq
may cause cognition impairment….disturbances in attention or memory.
*Priapism:
Patients should seek emergency treatment if an
erection
lasts >4 hours.
So there you have it. The stock market awaits the release of this
marginally effective “weight loss drug.”
To be effective, it should be used with diet and exercise. It does not promote significant weight loss
for those who are obese or overweight and have weight related illness. If it doesn’t “work” in three months, it most
likely will not work. Weight is
typically regained if the patient stays the course. It should not be taken by those on certain
antidepressants or antipsychotic medications.
It may cause heart valve damage.
It may increase depression and suicidal thoughts. And…it may be related to impaired thoughts,
memory, and attention.
Worth it? I suppose that any weight loss drug is
financially “worth buying into” as there will likely be a windfall when it is
first mass advertised and prescribed. “Worth
buying into” health-wise? Patients will
have to make that decision. I hope they
make in an informed way.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics....Home of all US Registered Dietitians.....gets corporate sponsorship from....Coca-Cola???
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics....Mother ship to all US Registered Dietitians.....gets corporate sponsorship from....Pepsi, Coke, Mars, Corn Refiners????
Glance over
the processed foods and sugary drinks listed below.
ConAgra : Kids Cuisine, Chef Boyardee, Snack Pack, Fiddle Faddle, Banquet frozen dinners, Poppy Cock, Blue Bonnet and Parkay margarine, Peter Pan Peanut Butter, Swiss Miss, Orville Redenbacher’s popcorn, Crunch ‘n Munch, Manwich, Slim Jim, Hebrew National franks……
General Mills: Cereals like Count Chocula, Monsters, Trix, Lucky Charms…Pillsbury dough products/cookies/cakes, Haagen Daz ice cream, Hamburger Helper mixes, Totino’s pizza rolls, Jeno’s pizza products, Bugles, Fruit by the Foot….
Kellogg: Cheese-its, Pringles, Keebler Cookies, Rice Krispie treats, Pop Tarts, Frosted Flakes, Cocoa Puffs, Froot Loops, Chips Deluxe, Famous Amos Cookies,
Pepsi: Pepsi soft drinks, Sierra Mist, Tropicana Twister, Mountain Dew, Fritos, Lays, Sunchips, Aunt Jemima, Brisk, Gatorade, Quaker, Rice a Roni, Amp energy drink.
Coca- Cola: All Coke products, Monster energy drink, Nestea sweetened drinks, Bacardi mixers, Fuze, Utopia, Minute Maid, Barq’s, Mello Yello
Corn Refiner’s Association: high fructose corn syrup, sugar alcohols, dextrose (glucose), crystalline fructose, corn syrup.
Mars: M&M’s Snickers, Twix, Skittles, Uncle Ben’s, Dove
Next; try and guess the health association that get sponsorship and funding from these food manufacturers.
Do you know what AND is the acronym of? Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics…formerly known as the American Dietetic Association.
It’s true. The processed foods listed above, the very foods that are implicated in the obesity and diabetes epidemics in the US and around the world are manufactured by companies that sponsor and provide funding to the AND.
Who belongs to this newly renamed and powerful health association; AND? ALL Registered Dietitians.
I am a Registered Dietitian and a Certified Diabetes Educator. I have been an RD for over 31 years. I have run the nutrition centers and developed the nutrition protocols for diabetes centers in hospitals, I have counseled thousands upon thousands of patients, and I have personally seen the ravages from the consumption of the foods listed above.
I’ve worked face to face with people suffering from obesity, hypertension, high cholesterol/triglycerides, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, sleep apnea, GERD, infertility, depression/anxiety, ADD/ADHD, cancer, and the families of those with Alzheimer’s disease.
After years in the field, I realized that the diets AND recommended for weight reduction, diabetes, and the other listed diagnoses listed were not helping prevent or stop the progression of these diseases and began to suspect they might be worsening the problems.
I am not a rebel. I am not a rabble-rouser or a trouble maker. I am a medical nutrition therapist with a history of credibility and responsibility. I am deeply invested in the health and well-being of the people I counsel and the human race. And I am not afraid to say that I have had to step back from the “traditional” rhetoric of AND including the following fallacies:
The most recommended “Diabetes diet” used in our hospitals is over 55% carbohdydrate. Carbohydrate foods are often added to patient’s trays in the “right” amount. AND claims they don’t advocate any particular diet for diabetes, that a diet for those with diabetes should be individualized. How can everyone with diabetes have an individualized diet when the majority of diabetics will meet with an RD? The diet pamphlets you receive at your doctor’s office or sample menus recommended for those with type 2 diabetes all subscribe to the 55% carb rhetoric. Don’t believe that the AND doesn’t in reality of practice favor a particular diet for the masses with diabetes… The AND diet for diabetes is over 55% carb, 20ish percent protein, and 30ish percent fat. It is a carb- laden diet and it increases blood sugar, lipids, blood pressure, and weight. That’s the truth.
“A carbohydrate is a carbohydrate” and “Sugar is just another carbohydrate”. These statements are absolutely false. The grams of carbohydrate provided by low glyemic, high fiber foods do not operate the same way the grams of carbohydrate from sugar works inside the human body! That’s the truth.
“The low fat/low cholesterol diet is recommended to lower cholesterol.” Most people with elevated LDL cholesterol and triglycerides will find their cholesterol levels will eventually worsen on a low fat/low cholesterol diet and they will require the use of statins to “normalize”cholesterol.. This is because a low fat diet is a high carb diet. That’s the truth.
“Calorie ins – Calories out” for weight loss. For over 60% of those with a weight issue, a calories in/calories out approach will exacerbate weight gain.. Low calorie diets decrease metabolic rate and are higher in carbohydrate percentage. That’s the truth.
Calorie Counting is necessary for long term weight loss. Low calorie diets will never work for the majority of those who have weight loss issues as theirs is not a calorie issue, they are genetically predisposed to a hormonal imbalance of insulin. Low calorie diets = higher carb content = higher insulin = weight/fat gain. That’s the truth.
Decreasing carbohydrate intake is a “fad” and a lower carb diet is unhealthy . Over 60% of the population needs to significantly decrease carb intake to lower weight and cholesterol, blood sugar, blood pressure…as well as the medications required for these conditions. That’s the truth.
Take another look at the foods “produced or manufactured” by the food companies that sponsor educations programs for the AND and what do they all have in common?
Almost all the foods they produce are great sources of carbohydrate. Sweetened drinks, energy drinks, sugary cereals, pasta products, crackers, chips, candy, “fiddle faddle”, ice cream, cookies, cakes, jellies, jams, etc etc.
What nutrient is responsible for the obesity and diabetes epidemics? Carbohydrate.
If AND had a set of…guidelines…..you would assume they would support a diet protocol that would decrease the risk of obesity and diabetes. But; the diet that would stop the epidemics of obesity and diabetes and decrease the need for dependence on costly medications would also necessarily recommend AGAINST the products manufactured by AND financial supporters.
There is a diet and lifestyle program that does what we need to stop the epidemics of
AND has studied my program and analyzed it. They have found it to be medically and scientifically sound. And then….they did not report this to the public. I have asked to present the program at AND programs and been refused. I have asked to have an informative article on the AND site and they refused. I am an RD, CDE, and member of AND.
I have no financial backers. I am at a point in my very long career that I am not wary of the wrath of my professional organization. I am an advocate for medical nutrition therapy. My mission is to spread the truth regarding the only way that over 60% of the population can lose weight/fat and get healthy.
I am not reporting or promoting the program for financial gain. I am not doing this for fame…if anything, I will become the target of negative press from the “powers that be” in the hierarchy of medical associations, food manufacturers, etc.
I am reporting this because the program works and this really matters. People’s health and well-being are at stake. I have an obligation (as a health care provider and a fellow human being) to work for the betterment of society. And I see our society becoming heavier and sicker at alarming rates. Our children are now obese, diabetic, and have a shorter life expectancy than their parents.
I have had phenomenal success with over 6000 patients in my private practice , the book is a NY Times Bestseller, it is licensed for publication in 7 languages, it was named the 2010 diet program in the UK, and has a worldwide following. And yet….the AND has failed to recommend or endorse it….or even mention it.
Yes, there exists a proven way to lose weight, improve health/wellness, decrease medications, increase energy, improve quality of life.
It is not anything like what you’ve learned regarding weight loss or healthy eating…because what you’ve been told has been designed to make you fatter, sicker, and need more medical care as well as fuel the coffers of major food manufacturers.
Read about the program on www.themetabolismmiracle.com. If you have diabetes, read about it on www.thediabetesmiracle.com.
I have closed my private practice in medical nutrition therapy to work directly with the online support group for these programs: www.miracle-ville.com. I am on this site daily. I personally answer the questions. There is amazing support, camaraderie, latest Metabolism Miracle news, program tweaks and updates, exclusive videos, chat, recipes.
The program: The Metabolism Miracle
People with Pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes: The Diabetes Miracle
Support group: www.miracle-ville.com
Sites: www.themetabolismmiracle.com and www.thediabetesmiracle.com
Blogs: www.dianekress/wordpress.com/ and www.thewhistleblog/blogspot.com/
Twitter and LinkedIn: DianeKress
The Truth.
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