Claims versus Effectiveness of Diet Pills

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Claims versus Effectiveness of Diet Pills

In these days of obesity and anorexia, many people turn to diet pills as a means of controlling weight. However, the question on many minds is, do diet pills work?

Ads in the early 1900s offered pills with tapeworms inside as a means of weight control. There is no way of knowing if the people who took these pills really ingested tapeworms or not, since all kinds of unsubstantiated product claims were made in those days. After all, there was no government regulation of drugs at the time.

In the 1930s, dinitrophenol (DNP) appeared as a weight-loss medication. By 1938, it had been outlawed because it apparently caused fever-related deaths and blindness. Although DNP is outlawd as a weight-loss medication, there are still internet sites selling it today, and people are still dying from its complications.

People began taking amphetamines in the 1950s and 1960s as a form of weight control. Approximately 8 percent of all prescriptions in 1970 were for amphetamines. Doctors found that amphetamines did help people lose weight, but it also caused addiction. The amphetamines sped up heart rates and caused insomnia in addition to other negative side effects.

Then along came appetite suppressants. In 1992, researchers combined fenfluramine and phentermine into a diet pill nicknamed fen-phen. Members of a study group lost an average of 16 percent of their body weight.

Then studies linked fen-phen to valvular heart disease. Some appetite suppressants were taken off the market when studies showed that they caused long-term heart problems and heart disease. Some of the appetite suppressants on the market since the late 1990s are only available to people with no cardiovascular problems.

After that, a glut of herbal weight-loss products hit the market. Sold as dietary supplements, the FDA does not have much control over them. Many people trust herbal products since they are deemed natural. In the 1990s, ephedra (also called ma huang) appeared in over-the-counter supplements. They contain ephedrine alkaloids, which work much like amphetamines, only not as strong. Researchers found that ephedrine alkaloids increase blood pressure and the heart rate and linked it to heart attacks and strokes. As a result they were banned from dietary supplements in 2004.

There are many other claims made about both prescription and herbal weight-loss products, and not every product can be discussed here. However, it seems that few if any weight loss products can stand up to close scrutiny.

Many herbal products come with disclaimers stating that the FDA has not evaluated any claims made about the products. Perhaps all herbal weight-loss products should come with a similar warning. The best advice for weight loss seems to be to consult with your doctor and do thorough research on any diet pill you are considering taking.

To date, a healthy diet and regular exercise seem to be the only magic bullets available as a sure-fire weight loss program.

About the Author

To learn more about the safest and most effective diet pills on the market, visit Syber Vision Reviews (http://sybervision.com/reviews/reviews.php). This site has researched and ranked the most popular diet pills so that you don't have to. Art Gib is a freelance writer.

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