Topic: weight loss drugs

Amid Safety Concerns, Weight Loss Drug Qsymia Probably Won’t Get Approval In The EU

Amid Safety Concerns, Weight Loss Drug Qsymia Probably Won't Get Approval In The EU

Earlier this week, a weight loss drug called Qsymia hit the market in the US. It was the first new FDA-approved anti-obesity medication to be introduced in over a decade. But Britons who are looking to lose weight may not be able to get their hands on it in the near future–or ever. According to the drug’s parent company, VIVUS, it’s unlikely that the very-strict European regulatory committee will approve the drug, which is raising questions about Qsymia’s purported safety. More »

Experimental Drug Zaps Fat Off Fat Monkeys

Experimental Drug Zaps Fat Off Fat Monkeys

University of Texas researchers melted the fat off of chunky monkeys with an experimental drug, which might be a whole lot more promising than obesity drugs tested on mice, thanks to the primate’s closer to resemblance to humans. The drug, called adipotide, works by targeting blood vessels that feed fatty tissue, and then causing the cells within to die. Without a blood supply, the fat cells shrivel up and voila! Suddenly you’ve got a much fitter monkey. More »

Pills Rejected By The FDA Are Not the Answer for Weight-Loss

Pills Rejected By The FDA Are Not the Answer for Weight-Loss

Weight loss is long, slow process that most of us at some point in our lives will have to deal with. Since it takes such a short time to pack on the pounds, and an exponentially longer time to lose them again, our quick-fix society is always looking for easy and painless methods to drop a size without breaking a sweat. Unfortunately, the medical community is well aware of our collective neuroses and will do anything to sell us those easy weight-loss drugs . . . even if the drugs aren’t fit for consumption. Most of us will do anything to lose weight quickly and easily, but will you go so far as to take FDA rejected drugs? More »

Novo Nordisk: Preventing Disease or Making Profits On The Future of Diabetes?

Novo Nordisk: Preventing Disease or Making Profits On The Future of Diabetes?

Here at Blisstree, we get excited when people come up with creative ways to convey the statistics and studies we read about health, like this mural of the future of diabetes in the U.S. by artist Mark Cline. The mural illustrates the future of diabetes in America, in an effort to make policymakers aware of the looming cost (in dollars and lives) of the current obesity epidemic. But the mural doesn’t show the whole picture: Commissioned by a diabetes drug manufacturer, it (literally) draws a scary picture of our future health if we continue going down our current path, but it doesn’t show the healthiest way out. More »