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Well, it's happened. The FDA approves Belviq to treat some overweight or obese adults. There has been dancing in the streets. Joyous shouts of happiness over the televisions and radios. The wonder drug is here. Hallelujah! Obesity will now be banished in America!
You don't really believe that, do you? You don't really believe that taking a magic pill will melt the pounds away? (Do we need to talk about the Tooth Fairy and Easter Rabbit, too?)
About one year prior to Belviq's approval, I started researching this new 'wonder drug'. It was bleak then. It is even bleaker now. But....don't take my word for it. Let me share with you what the FDA and Belviq both say about this new pill.
- The average weight loss over a one-year period is 5%.
- Based on average participants, weight loss was about 12 pounds per YEAR.
- A reduced-calorie diet is also recommended.
- Belviq is the first approved weight-loss drug since 1999.
- Belviq was initially REJECTED for approval in 2010 due to significant heart attack and stroke risks.
- Belviq has been given conditional approval in 2012. The FDA will sponsor 6 independent studies on the general public to assess the real heart attack and stroke risk of Belviq.
Let's break this down for easy understanding. The truth is so ridiculous I still can't believe this drug is available to the general public and I can't believe it is being touted as help for the obese.
By Belviq's own literature, the average person lost 12 pounds in one year. Really???? 12 pounds? And, that was on a reduced-calorie diet, too.
12 pounds in one year equates to 1 pound per month. Once again...really???
1 pound per month equates to 4 ounces per week. I can't even say it now....really????
4 ounces per week equates to approximately 1/2 ounce per day!!! Help me, please.
How can any sane person think it is OK to take a pill to lose 1/2 ounce per day? Even if the pill had no side effects, the cost can't warrant taking the pill. But, it's not that simple.
This 'wonder drug' has the real risk of heart attack and stroke. So real, in fact, that the FDA has REQUIRED not one, but six independent studies to be performed on the general public as part of the conditional approval. Who could market that drug with a straight face? How can any doctor recommend a patient take this pill?
Here is my promise. If you just walk around the block every night after work, you WILL lose at least 1/2 ounce per day. If you still choose to eat fast food, but decide to give it up just one day per week, you will lose at least 1/2 ounce per day. And guess what? It won't cost you any money and it won't have the side-effect of death.
It's not fun to say....it will never get any sound bites, but the truth is, the only way to lose weight in a meaningful way is to choose healthy foods and exercise. There are no shortcuts. There can't be. If there were, we'd sure know about it by now.
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Pun intended....huh! Yep, it's amazing what the public will swallow....not fresh fruits and vegetables,though. Oh dear God. That's asking for too much! :-(
How do these pills get sold... clever advertising and idiots that will believe anything.. to me the FDA is now becoming a total joke.. they were placed to protect and now they are placed politically... with a money in the bank mentality... they are a joke...
Rob....it's so confusing....when the pharmaceutical industry tells us to take a drug, we'll line up, like lemmings. Take the pills. Not ask to see the research....because it is FDA approved. Yet, when wellness physicians tell patients to eat right and exercise, we're looked at like quacks. The paradigm will shift.....I just know it will....One person at a time.
The more people are enlightened to the corrupt FDA and the poisons they are allowing through the system the quicker the populace will turn... mark my words this is not far off...
That's crazy. Too many people think a pill will solve everything. How can the FDA knowingly release a drug that can cause a stroke or heart attack? Answer: they do it all the time. That's another example of the pharm and FDA greed. Get a patent and FDA approval and they're in business. You are so right. The combination of a nutritious diet and even moderate exercise works like a charm. Many of us are carb addicted and we don't realize it. It's a vicious cycle. Once you get off of the simple carbs and eat vegetables, some fruit and protein, the weight drops off. Great article Dr. Becky.
Thank you, Joan. Maybe you and I should patent a 'fake' pill (no added chemicals) and sell it. At least we know we won't increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. I'll bet the 'placebo' patients did very well in the Belviq study. Thank you for your comment.
Isn't that ridiculous?I mean really, everybody knows how it works! Healthy eating an exercise is the solution for obesity and health improvement. It is really sad though that there will be people to buy it. Certainly! Put themselves in danger just to try...!!!
You are right healthy eating an exercise, are the only way to be healthy, the sooner people grasp that fact the sooner they will get to it.
Thanks for the comment, Maria. If all of us, one person at a time, stands up and shines a light on the faulty premise of a 'magic pill', maybe, just maybe, we can change the world.
Ohhhh.... let me think about that! Half a pound and a possible heart attack or a walk around the block? Hmmmm... yep! I'm thinking this drug will be a big hit with the general public. It would be funny if it wasn't so darn tragic! Where do they come up with this stuff and why oh why oh why do people enter into the ridiculousness of it all?? Lunacy!
It is sooo sad, isn't it? Many overweight people won't read the literature, will they? They'll hope for the magic pill (or magic surgery) to take all their cares away. It doesn't work that way and it never can.
Dr Becky I personally know a man who opted for lap band surgery (which ultimately didn't work for him) and he had to lose quite a bit of weight before he could have the surgery. Now am I missing something here? If he can prove he can lose the weight through diet why would anyone put their body through this trauma and then so they ironically can't eat so much. It just doesn't add up which ever way I look at it.
One person at a time, the wellness revolution will start. Thanks for your kind words.
If you take a sane person and heap gobs of cash on them as pharmaceutical companies have been known to do, especially with the FDA who obviously don't care one bit about the health of the people you get legalized drugs that are going to kill people, all so people with more money than they know what to do with can have a little more. I'm not opposed to people making big bucks but the FDA is down right corrupt and everyone knows it. Great article
I'm with you Ty. I'm not opposed to making gobs of money. Just opposed to making money based on lies and deceit. And many lemmings will line up and take the pill without asking any questions. But, hey, it's easier than eating right and exercising.
I know the pains of being overweight and feeling trapped in an endless cycle, but I started eating almost all fruits and veggies about 2 months ago, with just a tiny amount of meat mixed in for flavor, and now I never crave food anymore. I was not sure why this was at first but I came to find out that when you feed your body the right food, it gets the vitamins and minerals and everything it needs to function properly, so it stops craving all that junk food, and I have lost a lot of weight. It's the same for the gym, once you get in the habit of going you start to love it, our bodies don't like to sit idle, they need to move and work, it has a very calming effect on our minds, and allows us to focus. I always thought the food we put in our bodies would catch up to us down the road, but the food we eat has an effect on us immediately.
Congrats Ty.....keep up the good work. 'Fit' feels fabulous, doesn't it?
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