Dangerous Weight Loss Drug Hits UK Market

A few months ago, we were talking about the dangers posed by weight-loss drugs and the many side-effects of synthetic appetite-suppressants such as phentermine, which work to make us feel less hungry but also mess with our moods and induce everything from hallucinations to vomiting and seizures if taken for too long. Of course, many of the people – women in particular, but not exclusively – struggling to keep their weight in check or fighting obesity need to start losing weight fast, for fear of developing or worsening other associated conditions such as heart disease or diabetes.

Which means that while for some weight loss drugs are indeed a necessity, in an ideal world we'd only use them to jump-start our weight-loss regime and associate them with a healthy eating plan and plenty of exercise. However, some of the weight loss drugs available out there are simply too dangerous to begin with – the latest example being a pill called Rimonabant (also known as Acomplia, Monaslim, Bethin, Riobant, Slimona, Rimoslim or Zimulti), which was not approved by the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in the United States but is legal in half a dozen European states and has just been licensed for general use in Britain.

Rimonabant mainly works as an appetite suppressant and clinical trials have shown that it could help an average of two out of five patients shed about 10% of their body weight. It was approved for use in the UK partly due to the fact that it holds the great advantage of succeeding where the other two main weight-loss drugs usually prescribed to obese patients have failed – namely in patients who cannot tolerate or don't respond to Xenical (which cannot be used by patients with bowel problems) and Reductil (which cannot be used by patients who also experience high blood pressure).

The trouble is, Rimonabant has been proved to pose a serious danger for patients who suffer from depression and are taking antidepressant medication. In fact, some independent studies have warned that Rimonabant can actually trigger severe depression and suicidal thoughts, as well as promote the development of neuro-degenerative diseases of the central nervous system such as Multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, (ALS), Parkinson's and Huntington's. If you have been prescribed this drug, the best thing to do is treat it with extreme caution, don't abuse it and monitor your physical and mental state closely, or ask a friend to help you with that in order to make sure you're not in any danger at any point.