Freedom from the Diet Trap: Slim for Life. Jason Vale

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СКАЧАТЬ are of course many people who have been through the dieting mill and have realized this is not a long-term solution. At the same time their excess weight, as well as ailments related to their obesity, often cause people to take much more drastic measures than simply trying the latest diet. The increase in weight loss surgery and weight loss pills has exploded over recent years. Big people are big business and there are many people making billions of pounds by preying on their insecurities and desperation – all in the name of ‘medical help’ and ‘genuine care’ you understand. While I am all for some short-term medical intervention in many areas of ‘disease’, I see no place whatsoever for weight loss pills. And when I say no place, I mean no place at all. Even weight loss surgery, in some very desperate cases, can at times be the only solution to save a life and I can see at least a debate for it. However, these all new all-dancing and singing ‘weight loss solution’ pills are never the answer. Weight loss drugs are no longer aimed simply at the morbidly obese and given by GPs only as a last resort to those who really do feel they have tried everything else and would possibly die otherwise. Unfortunately things have got so far out of hand with the weight loss drug industry (as indeed I believe it has with the whole drug industry no matter what the disease) that I think it’s now safe to say we are without any question on the verge of …

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       PHARMAGEDDON

      

Never in history have we seen so many drugs being handed out so willy-nilly to so many people for so many different things. Every pill sold, means more money for BIG PHARMACEUTICALS. And one particular ‘disease’ is now more of the holy grail for BIG DRUGS than almost any other – obesity. With millions of people getting bigger by the day while craving the land of the thin more and more, the desperate need for a ‘quick fix’ is now at an all time high. And what better quick fix than a simple pill?

      In 1998, the NHS (National Health Service) gave out 20,000 anti-obesity pills. Just seven years later in 2005 that figure rose to 880,000 pills, the figure will almost certainly be over 1 million pills today. This annual cost to the NHS was £690,000 in the late 1990s and is now nearly £40 million. Yes FORTY MILLION POUNDS of your tax money going directly into the hands of the pharmaceutical companies, and the figure is growing daily. The government justify the ever increasing costs by claiming, ‘… the benefits to the economy outweigh the cost to the NHS’, they go on to explain, ‘… a lot of illness can be avoided by using these pills to aid weight loss’. Exactly what illnesses have ever been ‘cured’ as a direct result of the introduction of so many weight loss drugs I don’t exactly know, but no doubt there will be some ‘scientific data’ to back up such claims and if there aren’t it wouldn’t be too difficult to get some. I also haven’t seen a reduction of people gaining weight either, which given all you have to do is take a pill, is surprising. If these weight loss drugs are, as they often purport to be, ‘the easy solution to fat and obesity’, and given we are in an obesity epidemic, why don’t they simply give them to everyone so we can all live a ‘fat free’ and disease free life?

      Well the simple answer is they aren’t exactly the ‘magic bullet’ some purport them to be. What is extraordinary is that each anti-fat drug comes with a little side note explaining something along the lines of ‘can help to lose weight in conjunction with a diet and exercise programme’. Now, stop me if I appear nuts here, but doesn’t that defeat the whole argument of these fat drugs? Aren’t they apparently there as a last resort for those people who have tried everything else and now have no choice but to seek medical help? Aren’t they surely designed for people who have failed on the diet and exercise front? People who, for whatever reason, cannot tap into the right mind set to change their diet and exercise more? If that is the case and they are only meant to be given to such desperate people (after all, drugs should always be the last resort) and if these drugs are only effective with a change in diet and an increase in exercise, how can they possibly work for the group for which they are intended? Do these pills somehow miraculously inspire people to change their diet and get on the treadmill? If so, they really are miracle drugs. I get images of perhaps a three-dimensional tablet acting like a motivational cheerleader/speaker inspiring people to eat well and exercise. Seriously, think about it. If these drugs don’t help people lose excess weight by simply taking them, regardless of any change in diet or physical movement, then what’s the point of them? Even if they did enable an odd few to lose a little weight without changing anything else, are the potential risks of taking any drug and changing the fine chemical balance of the body worth it and what on earth do these pills do to get to the cause of the problem?

      WONDER DRUGS

      Coincidentally, as I write this small chapter, yet another ‘weight loss pill’ has come onto the market and only yesterday I was on the radio talking about it. I say coincidentally, but as they are coming out faster than the rate of stealth taxes, it’s not really that much of a coincidence. What’s fascinating about this particular one is the fact that for some reason it has been approved in England, but rejected by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) in the US because the safety of the drug was not demonstrated. The first question I have is an obvious one. How can a drug be okay for humans in the UK but not for those in the US? How can it be cleared on a scientific level here and yet not on a scientific level over there? I was always taught that science is ‘fact’, when of course I now know it’s ‘opinion’. In the opinion of the FDA it is, at time of this writing, not demonstrated as being safe and in the opinion of those in England it is fine. When I say fine, it doesn’t seem to matter that this drug – Rimonabant – has noted possible side effects which may include suicidal thoughts. However, as always, the counter drug argument of ‘it does more good than harm’ soon starts after any negative drug press.

      Dr Ian Campbell, medical director of the charity Weight Concern said, ‘You have to balance the risks with the advantages of quality of life improvement. Rimonabant has a role, it should be used with care but directed towards the right patient it can be effective and safe.’ However, he also goes on to say that the drug should not be used in people being treated for depression or with a recent history of depression. However, unless once again I have lost leave of my senses, the people for whom the pill is directed are more than likely going to be depressed aren’t they? If you are obese and so desperate that you are willing to take a drug which has the potential for suicidal thoughts (even if the chance is extremely small), wouldn’t it be fair to assume there’s a huge chance that person is already depressed? The medical profession will no doubt look to see before prescribing that the individual has no history of depression. But again that would be based purely on their medical records. If so, we need to ask, how many people go to their GP with depression for being overweight? And surely the ones who do are the very people who the drugs are designed for, aren’t they? Yet, it is recommended that this drug should not be taken if you are depressed, which begs the question, who exactly are these pills meant for? Deliriously happy obese people perhaps? But if they were over the moon with their weight, why would they seek medical assistance to lose weight? Can you see how mental the whole thing is when you start to look at it? It’s even more insane when you think the US committee of experts who reviewed studies of Rimonabant from all over the world, told an FDA hearing that the drug is associated with an increased risk of suicidal thoughts – even in those with no history of depression. Studies also highlighted significant increases in anxiety, insomnia, and panic attacks in patients given 20 mg of the drug compared with placebo.

      This is far from the first time weight loss drugs have been put under the adverse drug reaction (ADR) spotlight. Over the years many of these ‘medically approved’ weight loss drugs have had reports of all sorts of side effects ranging from random СКАЧАТЬ