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Appetite Suppressants
Can you take appetite suppressants for weight loss?
Appetite suppressants are drugs that make the you feel full, which suppresses the appetite. Appetite suppressants (also known as diet pills) trigger hormonal responses which interrupt the brain’s signals which tell you that you feel hungry and that it’s time to eat.
They can also make you feel full more quickly once you begin to eat. This means, in theory, that you eat less and therefore lose weight.
However, appetite suppressants can have dangerous side effects and have even been known to cause death.
Do appetite suppressants help with weight loss?
Appetite suppressants may help to suppress hunger and cause you to feel full sooner, so they might help you lose weight in the short term. However, there are safer ways to lose weight. The dangerous side effects of diet pills in the past have caused certain brands to be banned in both the UK and the US. There is a flourishing internet trade in diet pills which has allowed people desperate to lose weight to buy illegal and potentially dangerous drugs and herbal supplements.
There is no proof that appetite suppressants work as there haven’t been any independent clinical trials.
Which appetite suppressants are there?
Appetite suppressants available in the UK include phentermine and diethylpropion. They are not available on the NHS but are available on private prescription.
Another weight loss aid that is available in the UK is orlistat, a medication that works by reducing the amount of fat absorbed by your body from the food you eat. It is a prescription only medication and a GP or online doctor need to assess whether it’s suitable for you. Orlistat does not affect your appetite and you need to eat a low fat diet while taking it.
How do they work?
Appetite suppressants work by tricking your brain into believing that you are not hungry and that your stomach is full. One way that they do this is by increasing the levels of the ‘feel-good’ hormone serotonin, which is responsible for regulating your mood, appetite and sleep patterns, amongst other things. If your brain thinks you are full, you won’t feel hungry, and therefore you are likely to eat less.
Are they safe?
Attempts by the pharmaceutical industry to create a safe and effective appetite suppressant have so far failed so there is no evidence to say that they safely help with weight loss.
Two appetite suppressants - sibutramine (Reductil) and rimonabant (Acomplia) - were taken off the UK market in recent years. Both went through clinical trials but once people widely began using them, dangerous side-effects were reported. Side effects from one drug included making the people taking them feel suicidal, while another drug increased the chances of having a non-fatal heart attack or stroke.
Two other appetite suppressants available in the UK, phentermine and diethylpropion, have been around for over 50 years, but can only be obtained with a private prescription, for example from a doctor in a slimming clinic. They are not available on prescription on the NHS. The European Medicines Agency (EMA), which regulates the approval and use of drugs in Europe, once attempted to ban these drugs by taking their licences away. However, an independent manufacturer of the drugs fought the EMA in the European courts and won, overturning the decision.
The only diet medication which is currently licensed in the UK as safe and effective is orlistat, which is a lipase inhibitor. This means that it reduces the amount of energy that you take in from the fat contained in foods that you eat, and the undigested fat is passed along with your faeces. It doesn’t suppress the appetite, but instead works by preventing up to a third of the fat that you eat from being absorbed by the body.
Orlistat (also known as Xenical) is available on prescription, and is prescribed if a doctor or pharmacist thinks that the medicine is suitable for you. You will normally only be prescribed orlistat if you have a body mass index (BMI) of 28 or more.
What you can do
If you feel that you need to lose weight, speak to your doctor. They can advise you on what to do, which will include advice on eating more healthily and taking more exercise.
Do not be tempted by adverts on the internet advertising miracle weight loss tablets - they will usually be illegal at best, and extremely dangerous to your health at worst. Unlicensed online pharmacies and shops are business that have been created to play on people’s insecurities, and if something goes wrong while you are taking diet pills bought from these online sellers, there will be no one to accept responsibility once they have your money.
The safest way to lose weight is by following a sensible diet and exercise plan under the supervision of your doctor.