ePillz.com - Rimonabant - A Revolution In Obesity Treating Is Expected

Rimonabant - A Revolution In Obesity Treating Is Expected

November, 2005 - International Symposium on Obesity and Hypertension -

The official trial results of newly-developed medication for treating obesity has been announced on the 4th International Symposium on Obesity and Hypertension tool place at Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin on October 27-29.

Rimonabant or Acomplia, the invention of Sanofi-Aventis, is currently in testing period to find out its efficiency and possible side effects. This drug is called to treat obesity and smoking. Besides, the developers say new drug helps improve heart performance.

The results of the most recent 2-years trial in Europe and the USA, announced during the Symposium, showed that Rimonabant reduces bodyweight, especially at the abdomen and waist areas, and improves metabolic parameters of patients.

Scientists put many hopes to this medication, taking into account a great number of obese people in highly-industrialized countries, where this disorder has already reached the epidemic level.

Rimonabant is a substance of absolutely new class of medications. It is classified as the appetite suppressant, blocking the feeling of hunger and reducing blood lipid levels, thus reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.

New drug deals with the endocannabinoid system of human organism. Scientists have found that human body contains special substances, which act like cannabis or hashish. It is known that cannabis users experience strong hunger pangs, known as “munchies”. The developers of Rimonabant suggested that if cannabis increases hunger feeling, than blocking human cannabinoids may result in blocking the feeling of hunger.

The suggestion appeared to be correct. As a result, a new blocker of certain endocannabinoids, responsible for the felling of hunger, has been synthesized and now is tested under the name of Rimonabant.

To get the approval of medical authorities like FDA in the USA, every new drug should pass multiple rather long-term trials and tests to prove its safety and efficiency. The initial trials of Rimonabant showed it as an effective medication to treat obesity and smoking. Safety of the new drug is also rather promising: only mild side effects, like nausea, diarrhea and dizziness have been found during the trials.

In spite of rather optimistic trial results, it is still unknown when Rimonabant appears on the market. The authorities requests Sanofi-Aventis to provide them with more data in order to avoid any unforeseen side effects, which may arise when the drug appears on the market, where it is going to be requested by many millions of obese and overweight people.

Nick

External resources
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=32765