Buyers Wait For Weight-Loss Pill
By PATTY KIM
TAMPA - You probably won't find the first FDA-approved, over-the-counter weight-loss pill in Bay area stores until Friday, but there's been no shortage of demand.
Pharmacies fielded several phone calls Wednesday inquiring about alli (pronounced AL-eye), a less potent version of Roche's prescription weight-loss pill Xenical. Employees at the Wal-Mart pharmacy, at 1505 N. Dale Mabry Highway, reported several curious consumers calling and stopping by to inquire about the drug after the "Today" show aired a story, but shipments of the pill hadn't arrived.
"Everybody is waiting for the medicine. We've had many people calling and asking for it," pharmacy technician Carmen Padron said. "Before it was a prescription; now it's over the counter. I believe it will be a big seller."
Manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Health claims overweight adults can lose 50 percent more weight with the capsule than with dieting alone. So if you could lose 10 pounds dieting, you could lose 15 pounds with alli. The caveat: The pill must be used with a reduced-calorie, low-fat diet and exercise.
The recommended dose is one 60 milligram capsule with meals up to three times a day.
"The bottom line is you have to follow a low-fat diet in order for it to work," says registered dietitian Sarah Krieger, spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. "That includes healthy fats. If a person is eating 6 ounces of salmon and a salad with avocado and olive oil, they're easily going to exceed what's safe to have."
Alli is not an appetite suppressant but instead blocks absorption of about 25 percent of the fat you eat. That doesn't mean you can take unlimited trips through the drive-through for a supersize meal - unless you want to suffer through gas with oily spotting, loose stools, more bowel movements and an urgent need to use the bathroom.
You can avoid these "treatment effects" by having no more than 15 grams of fat per meal.
"Although they encourage you to change your lifestyle, the people who go for those type of pills usually look for more of a quick fix. I don't think they'll be happy with those side effects," says Denise Edwards, assistant professor of pediatrics and internal medicine at USF Health. "Because of the side effects and because it's not well-tolerated, I don't think many people will keep it up long-term."
Only time will tell whether consumers will stick with alli, but the appetite for the pill is undeniable.
About 66 percent of U.S. adults age 20 or older are overweight or obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That doesn't include our growing childhood obesity epidemic. And when you consider that Americans spend more than $40 billion a year on diet products and self-help books, the demand for alli isn't surprising.
Sorry, there's no magic diet pill here. It's hard work to lose weight.
"The plus side is people have to eat a low-fat diet and exercise, which is what anybody trying to lose weight needs to do anyway," Krieger says. "This just gives them a little extra boost and doesn't eliminate entire food groups, but encourages exercise and a well-balanced diet. It's stuff you can't get around when you're trying to lose weight."
"Once you are ready to make changes, there are plenty of other things you can do rather than take those type of medications," says Edwards, who works on weight loss in children and adults as director of the USF Healthy Weight Clinic. "Talk to a physician, a nutritionist, and learn the best way to lose weight for you, depending on what your diet and lifestyle are already like."
Orlistat and Meridia are the only prescription weight-loss drugs on the market approved by the Food and Drug Administration. FDA approved the sale of alli, a reduced-strength version of Orlistat, in February.
Clinical trials showed that Orlistat, available since 1999, has helped people lose 50 percent more weight than just with dieting and exercise alone.
Information from the Detroit News and researcher Melanie Coon was used in this report. Reporter Patty Kim can be reached at pkim@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-8402.
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