Three years ago the Food and Drug Administration approved Contrave, Belviq and Qsymia as weight loss pills then in December another name was approved, Saxenda.
But all of the diet pills introduced to the market seem to be failing the consumers, which only prove that there's no such thing as a magic pill that can whittle off unwanted pounds. According to CNN, patients complain over the effectiveness and side effects of the pills.
For Dr. Elias S. Siraj, director of the diabetes test program at Temple University School of Medicine, patients who qualify to take the drugs such as overweight, obese, people with high blood pressure or other weight problem conditions, are often not pleased by the results.
According to the experts taking Qsymia orally, as well as Saxenda can only give 5% and 10% weight loss to the patients.
Although the associated effect is very low, Siraj pointed out that "weight loss as low as 5% makes a significant difference," especially for people who are diabetes and who are at risk of cholesterol and blood pressure.
When it comes to side effects for the weight loss tablets, research shows that Belvic often can cause dizziness, headaches and memory problems. While Qsymia and Contrave can raise the heart rate of the patients.
For Saxenda, the common side effects are nausea and vomiting. A recent study shows it also has serious side effects such as pancreatitis and breast cancer. Research is still ongoing for Saxenda's other possible side effects.
The director of medical weight management at the University of Cincinnati, Dr. Angela Fitch believes that the availability of new medications for weight loss, is a shift in thinking among researchers and health care professionals in the last decade."
She added, "We have been pushing ... that obesity is a medical problem and not a personal problem."
And she believe that Saxenda has a unique action that can be a "game changer."
