|
Acomplia : A dual cure for weight loss & type 2 diabetes 02 February, 2007 Weight gain could be a result of a current group of medications which are generally prescribed to cure type 2 diabetes. Weight gain has been seen as a side effect as a result of which weight loss drugs are also prescribed to control weight, who otherwise find it difficult with dietary measure alone. Researchers have looked for drugs that could address both problems regarding, a strong association between obesity and increased risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes -- increases in body weight lead to changes in blood lipid and cholesterol levels, predisposing to increased risk of atherosclerosis or clogging of the blood vessels. Rimonabant is one of the most promising drugs which have been developed recently, which has been found by studies produce significant improvements in blood sugar while promoting weight loss in people with type 2 diabetes. The most recent of these trials is the Study Evaluating Rimonabant Efficacy in Drug-Naive Diabetic Patients (Serenade), which involved 278 patients at 56 study centers in the United States, Germany, Argentina, Chile, Hungary, Poland and The Netherlands. Positive results The drug is reported to be quite effective in significantly improving blood sugar levels (50 percent versus 35 percent) in participants with type 2 diabetes and who are not currently treated with any antidiabetic medication in a particular trial. The Serenade also reported benefits beyond improving blood sugar levels including reducing weight and waist circumference, and improving other cardio-metabolic risk factors such as bad cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Dr. Alma Casareo, medical director of Sanofi-Aventis, the pharmaceutical giant that discovered and developed rimonabant stated that, "The management of type 2 diabetes should not only focus on controlling blood sugar levels but also in improving other risk factors such as weight, good and bad cholesterol, triglycerides and blood pressure. The results shown in the Serenade is indeed very promising," First of its kind Rimonabant is the first of its kind in the class of drugs known as selective cannabinoid type 1 (CB1) blockers. "The CB1 receptors are believed to play a role in controlling food consumption and the phenomena of dependence and habituation. Compounds with potential to inhibit the activity of this receptor were then screened, in which rimonabant emerged as the most promising," Casareo related. She said the development of drugs that address type 2 diabetes and obesity is very important considering that currently more than 194 million adults or 5 percent of adults worldwide have been diagnosed with diabetes, with type 2 diabetes constituting 85 percent to 95 percent of these diagnoses. According to a report: Casareo said, "Approximately 90 percent of type 2 diabetes is attributed to people being overweight or obese and worldwide, diabetes is among the leading causes of blindness, renal failure and lower limb amputation, as well as death through its effects on cardiovascular disease (70 to 80 percent of people with diabetes die of cardiovascular disease),". Rimonabant was approved as an adjunct to diet and exercise for the treatment of obese patients or overweight patients with associated risk factors, such as type 2 diabetes or dyslipidemia in the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Ireland, Austria and in Argentina, where it is known as Acomplia. The United States and Philippines are still to approve Rimonabant. |
||||||||||||||||||
