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MONDAY, Mar 17, (News Locale) - Arena Pharmaceuticals today revealed that its experimental weight-loss drug lorcaserin has passed a critical safety criteria in a review by an independent safety board. Lorcaserin is a serotonin activator, which means the drug makes people feel full without having consumed much food.
Lorcaserin is similar to a Wyeth drug called fen-phen, which was pulled in 1997 after it caused heart valve damage. Arena said that in a trial of 3,200 obese patients, lorcaserin did not cause any problems related to heart valves.
In contrast to lorcaserin, fen-phen also stimulated a protein in the brain that seemed to triggers issues with heart valves. "We believe that this exposure duration, even under a conservative interpretation of the literature, would have been sufficient to observe a fenfluramine-like effect on heart valves if present," said Jack Lief, CEO of Arena.
In a previous study, lorcaserin was found to help people lose an average of 7.3 pounds without any concurrent diet or exercise. The current study found that there were no differences among the lorcaserin group and the placebo group as far as heart valve problems was concerned after 12 months of regular dosing.
Arena said lorcaserin belonged to a new class of drugs, "The compound is the first in a new class of obesity drug candidates targeting the 5-HT2C serotonin receptor, which is located in the hypothalamus, a key area of the brain associated with regulation of food intake and metabolism," the company added.
Obesity is a dangerous condition which is linked to the so-called lifestyle diseases like type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, obstructive sleep apnea, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, heart disease, poor self-esteem, and a lower health-related quality of life.
A person having a Body Mass Index of 25 or above is considered overweight, while those having BMIs of 30 or above are obese.
Sedentary lifestyle practices coupled with a shift in diet to junk foods are the main reason behind this explosion of overweight or obese population. The World Health Organization has declared obesity as a global epidemic having major health implications in 1997. It estimated that some 2 billion people worldwide are obese or overweight.
After trying out a plethora of crash diets and supplements that promise quick meltdown of flab, obese individuals are bound to look out for slimming or diet pills that can safely remove fat, but do not prevent them from consuming a hearty meal at the same time.
While there are many crash diets and fads prescribed to obese people none of these work in the long run. In conclusion, while diet pills may have a good safety profile; it is always advisable to trim down in the natural way - that is by eating a balanced diet and being ac active as possible.
Eating a balanced diet and maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle are important in tackling this crisis. Otherwise obesity is in danger of becoming one of the most preventable causes of death across the globe.
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