popular after the Alli version became available over the counter at the chemist for those people who are overweight and obese.
The drug is effective as a weight loss aid because it reduces the amount of fat that the body can absorb. The fat that isn’t absorbed is then passed as a bowel movement. This can be unpleasant for those people taking the diet pill and is widely considered a disagreeable though necessary side effect.
Researcher Amelia Hollywood said the, “findings support the idea that Orlistat works not only on a physical level, but also psychologically – as it encourages people to see their diet as a cause of their weight problem…In addition, the side effects are so unpleasant that people avoid eating bad, fatty foods and therefore lose weight”.
The research revealed the different ways in which the test subjects approached their use of the diet pill. In many cases people admitted to purposely not adhering to the medication as directed, “It seemed that these people were taking Orlistat as a lifestyle drug – choosing to take it when they were eating foods higher in fat to reduce any weight gain or not taking it when going on holiday or out for a meal as they didn’t want to experience the consequences of eating fatty foods.”
The preliminary findings, presented at the British Psychological Society’s Division of Health Psychology conference in Birmingham, found that on average those taking the diet pills lost almost 10lb over six months.
Available to those who have a body mass index of 28 or higher, Orlistat promises to help you lose 50% more weight than if you were going it alone. GlaxoSmithKline, the makers of Orlistat, insist that the drug should only be used as part of an overall diet programme, which would also include a concentration on healthy eating.
With yet another study indicating a link between obesity and erectile dysfunction being published in the medical journal Obesity and Weight Management, there are increasing numbers of people seeking the aid of slimming pills, with Orlistat being the pill of the moment.
The number of Under-18s using diet pills and weight loss tablets has also seen a worrying increase, with University College London claiming in research that up to 1,300 children a year could be on treatments, even though they are not licensed for them. Medical professionals are worried that children, and the public in general, could be seeing drugs such as Orlistat as a ‘quick fix’. However, Dr Jim Kennedy, a GP in Middlesex claimed that “for people who are obese and are not able to lose weight through diet and exercise alone, anti-obesity medicines can help as part of an overall weight management programme.”