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Pretty Freaky...must read!
by jamiesmedstad, Aug 30, 2007 07:46PM
Hi all! I just want to put this out there for everyone.
A few years ago, I saw that psychic Silvia Brown at a live show, and she said that there will be a new obesity medication coming out soon called "Liptid or Liptil", and it will be the "cure for obesity and the end of dieting as we know it". Well, being the speptic that I am, I just shrugged it off and didn't really think about it again, but when I was doing some research on Topamax (a new medicine I am taking for migranes that is supposed to cause some weight loss)...I ran accross this article. And let me tell you, I still have chills!
Obesity Drug Leptin Shows Promise
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the first published study of the hormone leptin for typical cases of obesity in humans, scientists have shown that the genetically engineered drug does help people knock off pounds of fat.
At the same meeting where the fat drug results were announced, other researchers called for a sweeping national prevention effort - aimed at fostering healthier diet and exercise habits - to reverse the recent rapid rise in obesity in American, which is killing an estimated 300,000 people a year.
In the leptin study, scientists from St. Lukes-Roosevelt Hospital in New York City found that those who took the drug dropped more pounds, with the greatest weight loss seen in the group taking the highest doses.
Importantly, most of the weight lost was fat, in comparison to the
usual pattern of 75 percent fat and 25 percent muscle and bone lost on most reducing diets, said research leader Dr. Steven B. Heymsfield.
After 24 weeks, patients on the highest leptin doses lost about 15
pounds, compared to those on placebo, who lost about three pounds.
All patients were put on a low calorie diet and exercise program,
said Heymsfield at an American Medical Association news conference.
In the leptin study, both obese and lean subjects were enrolled in
the trial, and none of the patients had the rare genetic defect that
prevents their bodies from naturally producing leptin, a hormone made in fat cells that sends "Stop Eating" signals to the brain.
The 53 lean study participants were given injections of the drug or placebo for a month, while 47 of the 70 obese participants continued on leptin or placebo for 24 weeks. Itching and black-and-blue marks at the injection site were the worst side effects seen.
Heymsfield, who said it will take years of testing before the drug
will be available, believes that leptin is just the first of several
compounds that may one day lead to the long-sought pharmaceutical method of switching off an out-of-control appetite.
But, he added, "Patients are always looking for a magic bullet.
There really are no magic bullets."
For example, when patients stop taking the drug, the weight most
likely comes back, and requires exercise and dieting to work best.
The gene for leptin, and the hormone it produces, were identified
five years ago, said Heymsfield. Scientists at first thought that the
drug would work only in those people with a genetic defect that prevents their bodies from making leptin. They doubted it would work in the average obese person, who often have an excess of leptin in their bodies.
This study is the first to show that the hormone can help reduce
weight in people who have a normal leptin gene.
Since the discovery of leptin, researchers have identified a half
dozen similar hormones that regulate body weight.
Said Heymsfield, "Leptin is the first step in a molecular biology
revolution - a targeted protein introduced for obesity treatment."
He said, "We're embarking on a new course of therapeutics."
Amgen Inc., the California company developing the drug, had created two second generation versions of leptin that will allow patients to take larger doses without the injection site reactions.
There never has been a more desperate need for effective fat-fighting methods, as Americans become fatter each year despite $33 billion spent annually on drugs and diet programs in the United States.
The study appeared in a recent issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
In other studies in JAMA, scientists warned about the epidemic of obesity in the United States. Researchers estimate that about 300,000 people die each year from illnesses related to excess pounds.
Jeffrey Koplan, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, said obesity is second only to tobacco as a killer.
In a phone survey of 100,000 participants, the CDC said the number of people who would be classified as obese has increased from one in eight in 1991 to one in five in 1998.
Also the number of states reporting obesity rates higher than 15
percent jumped dramatically, from four out of 45 states that participated in the survey in 1991 to 37 in 1998.
Other reports have put the estimate of obesity slightly higher, with about 22 percent obese and 50 percent overweight.
The CDC scientists said the increase was seen in men and women and across age groups, races and educational levels. It also occured regardless of smoking status.
The largest increases in obesity were seen in Hispanics, people with higher education levels and young adults.
Koplan said, "We don't have a simple answer for why this has occurred."
Some reasons include an increase over the past two decades in the number of calories consumed each day, more fast food outlets and social eating and drinking, less exercise and more time spent planted in front of the television set.
Koplan is calling for a sweeping national prevention program to try to reverse some of these fat-building habits.
(Written by Mara Bovsun in New York City)
A few years ago, I saw that psychic Silvia Brown at a live show, and she said that there will be a new obesity medication coming out soon called "Liptid or Liptil", and it will be the "cure for obesity and the end of dieting as we know it". Well, being the speptic that I am, I just shrugged it off and didn't really think about it again, but when I was doing some research on Topamax (a new medicine I am taking for migranes that is supposed to cause some weight loss)...I ran accross this article. And let me tell you, I still have chills!
Obesity Drug Leptin Shows Promise
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the first published study of the hormone leptin for typical cases of obesity in humans, scientists have shown that the genetically engineered drug does help people knock off pounds of fat.
At the same meeting where the fat drug results were announced, other researchers called for a sweeping national prevention effort - aimed at fostering healthier diet and exercise habits - to reverse the recent rapid rise in obesity in American, which is killing an estimated 300,000 people a year.
In the leptin study, scientists from St. Lukes-Roosevelt Hospital in New York City found that those who took the drug dropped more pounds, with the greatest weight loss seen in the group taking the highest doses.
Importantly, most of the weight lost was fat, in comparison to the
usual pattern of 75 percent fat and 25 percent muscle and bone lost on most reducing diets, said research leader Dr. Steven B. Heymsfield.
After 24 weeks, patients on the highest leptin doses lost about 15
pounds, compared to those on placebo, who lost about three pounds.
All patients were put on a low calorie diet and exercise program,
said Heymsfield at an American Medical Association news conference.
In the leptin study, both obese and lean subjects were enrolled in
the trial, and none of the patients had the rare genetic defect that
prevents their bodies from naturally producing leptin, a hormone made in fat cells that sends "Stop Eating" signals to the brain.
The 53 lean study participants were given injections of the drug or placebo for a month, while 47 of the 70 obese participants continued on leptin or placebo for 24 weeks. Itching and black-and-blue marks at the injection site were the worst side effects seen.
Heymsfield, who said it will take years of testing before the drug
will be available, believes that leptin is just the first of several
compounds that may one day lead to the long-sought pharmaceutical method of switching off an out-of-control appetite.
But, he added, "Patients are always looking for a magic bullet.
There really are no magic bullets."
For example, when patients stop taking the drug, the weight most
likely comes back, and requires exercise and dieting to work best.
The gene for leptin, and the hormone it produces, were identified
five years ago, said Heymsfield. Scientists at first thought that the
drug would work only in those people with a genetic defect that prevents their bodies from making leptin. They doubted it would work in the average obese person, who often have an excess of leptin in their bodies.
This study is the first to show that the hormone can help reduce
weight in people who have a normal leptin gene.
Since the discovery of leptin, researchers have identified a half
dozen similar hormones that regulate body weight.
Said Heymsfield, "Leptin is the first step in a molecular biology
revolution - a targeted protein introduced for obesity treatment."
He said, "We're embarking on a new course of therapeutics."
Amgen Inc., the California company developing the drug, had created two second generation versions of leptin that will allow patients to take larger doses without the injection site reactions.
There never has been a more desperate need for effective fat-fighting methods, as Americans become fatter each year despite $33 billion spent annually on drugs and diet programs in the United States.
The study appeared in a recent issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
In other studies in JAMA, scientists warned about the epidemic of obesity in the United States. Researchers estimate that about 300,000 people die each year from illnesses related to excess pounds.
Jeffrey Koplan, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, said obesity is second only to tobacco as a killer.
In a phone survey of 100,000 participants, the CDC said the number of people who would be classified as obese has increased from one in eight in 1991 to one in five in 1998.
Also the number of states reporting obesity rates higher than 15
percent jumped dramatically, from four out of 45 states that participated in the survey in 1991 to 37 in 1998.
Other reports have put the estimate of obesity slightly higher, with about 22 percent obese and 50 percent overweight.
The CDC scientists said the increase was seen in men and women and across age groups, races and educational levels. It also occured regardless of smoking status.
The largest increases in obesity were seen in Hispanics, people with higher education levels and young adults.
Koplan said, "We don't have a simple answer for why this has occurred."
Some reasons include an increase over the past two decades in the number of calories consumed each day, more fast food outlets and social eating and drinking, less exercise and more time spent planted in front of the television set.
Koplan is calling for a sweeping national prevention program to try to reverse some of these fat-building habits.
(Written by Mara Bovsun in New York City)
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I was on Topamax last year for migranes and I asked the Dr. what the side effects were and she smiled and said you'll lose weight, I thought she was joking but I kinda wasn't as hungry as I normally was but went off them because I didn't like the way they made me feel. besides they wrote in your article, "For example, when patients stop taking the drug, the weight most
likely comes back, and requires exercise and dieting to work best."
They have bad side effects and I think they aren't safe. I think the hcg injections is your best bet after reading about them! :) (If you want to lose weight.) I got my Topamax last year so if Silvia did her research, it's public knowledge.
Lexi22