Does anyone have experience with this new drug? It is not yet approved in the U.S., but is available in the U.K for weight loss. There is some data that suggest it can be used to treat addiction (smoking.)
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Acomplia/ Rimonabant
Hi,
I'd never heard of it but found this on the net.
Could Have Impact on Treatment of Addiction
A new anti-obesity pill that has been shown to not only help lose weight and quit smoking could also be effective in helping people stop drug and alcohol addiction, scientists claim.
Acomplia, or rimonabant, is an experimental drug developed by the French pharmaceutical firm Sanofi-Aventis primarily as a diet pill, but the drug works differently that most diet pills in that it blocks the brain's reward system.
It works by blocking the connection between a pleasure-seeking activity, like smoking or overeating, and the reward "feeling" it causes in the brain. The human body contains endocannabinoids, marijuana-like substances that can stimulate the brain's reward system.
Acomplia blocks the effect of the natural endocannabinoids by keeping them from attaching to the brain cells they usually stimulate, scientists say.
In March of this year, Acomplia gained a great deal of attention when two research studies demonstrated that it could not only help people lose weight, but quit smoking also.
Last week, researchers reported rimonabant helped keep weight off for two years, lower bad cholesterol, increase good cholesterol, and it could possibly be used to fight drug and alcohol abuse.
Acomplia Side Effects
Sanofi-Aventis will begin the process of seeking Food and Drug Administration approval for use of Acomplia in the United States. That process could begin as early as next year. Once the drug is approved for use as a diet pill in the U.S., it can then be studied for its effect on addicts and alcoholics, researchers say.
However, the two-year study of Acomplia showed some side effects including depression, anxiety, and irritability. Researchers reported that those side effects were mostly minor and short-lived. But 13 percent of those in the trial who took the most effective dose of the drug, stopped taking it and dropped out of the study due to those side effects.
Some scientist have expressed concern about the mental side effects of the drug and some believe that the FDA will want to carefully study the long-rage use of the drug for possible risk factors before giving its approval, which could take years.
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Happy to be sober since 07 Sept 09. -
Acomplia/ Rimonabant
Just read this today 4/15/07
What Is Acomplia / Rimonabant / Zimulti ?
Rimonabant, discovered and developed by French pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Synthelabo, is a new drug thas has shown great promise in trials for the treatment of obesity and related metabolic risk factors.
Rimonabant is already on the market in Europe, being sold under the trade name Acomplia, and is awaiting approval in the United States. It appears that the FDA will not permit rimonabant to be sold as Acomplia in the U.S., and Sanofi is believed preparing to market it in the United States as Zimulti.
Rimonabant works by blocking the CB1 receptor, one of two receptors found in a newly described physiological system called the Endocannabinoid System (EC System).
The Endocannabinoid System is believed to play a critical role in the regulation of food intake and energy expenditure.
The receptors are present on the surfaces of many cells throughout the body, including fat cells -- which are involved in lipid and glucose metabolism -- and those in the hypothalamus, the brain region that is thought to determine appetite.
Cannabinoids, chemical compounds produced by your body, latch on to the CB1 receptors, which are overactive in overweight and obese individuals, sending out a signal that prompts people to eat more.
Researchers wondered whether a drug that halted this action might curb appetite, and in 2001, the first animal study was conducted at the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in Bethesda, Md.
In the study, genetically altered mice that lacked cannabinoid receptors ate less than their litter mates, even after 18 hours of fasting. When the normal mice were given rimonabant, which blocked their CB1 receptors, the mice reduced their food intake.
In 2002, Sanofi-Synthelabo began human tests.
Acomplia works by selectively targeting and blocking the CB1 receptors, helping normalize the over-activation of the EC system and making hunger or cigarette pangs more manageable.
Much of the excitement about Acomplia stems from early results suggesting that the blocking of signals that control cravings not only facilitates weight loss, but that it also improves cardiovascular/ metabolic risk factors in overweight/obese patients.
In the RIO-Lipids trial, weight loss was accompanied by a decrease in waist size of 3.4 inches demonstrating a significant reduction in abdominal obesity, an independent marker for heart disease.
Dramatic improvements also were reported in lipid profile with a 23% increase in HDL-cholesterol (good cholesterol) and a 15% decrease in triglycerides.
Improvements in glucose tolerance and insulin levels were also reported. Approximately half of the patients diagnosed at the start of the study with metabolic syndrome, who received the higher 20 mg daily dose of Acomplia, no longer had this condition at the conclusion of the trial.Comment
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