When taken on a low fat diet, the pill prevents the body from absorbing fat. But in talking to the experts NewsChannel 11 learned if you continue to eat a high fat diet while on Alli, you could pay an uncomfortable price.

"It may work for some people, but it's probably not an option for everybody out there," says Shelley Fillipp, a Covenant Dietician.

You might be wondering who wouldn't want to take a FDA approved diet pill? Well, we all know that something that sounds too good to be true is often just that.

"Blocked fat has to go somewhere. If you don't absorb it, it is going to go somewhere," says Fillipp.

It's recommended that people taking Alli ingest no more than 15 grams of fat at each meal. If you do so, you will suffer the consequences which could mean severe stomach cramping and sudden oftentimes uncontrollable trips to the bathroom.

"Some of my patients have said, 'Yes it's definitely noticeable if you go eat Mexican food.' It's not pleasant afterwards and they say you really shouldn't go on first dates when you start this drug until you know how your body responds to it,'" says Fillipp.

At Wal-Mart the starter pack for Alli sells for $49.63 and each bottle contains about 90 capsules. But cost doesn't seem to be a factor because Wal-Mart managers say Alli is flying off the shelves.

"It's not that bad. I actually already bought it," says one Lubbock woman NewsChannel spoke with.

She says the side effects haven't been severe, but they do take getting used to.

"It's just really weird when you go to the bathroom," she says.

But some say they aren't sure they want Alli as an ally in their fight against fat.

"I would rather be a little heavier and be able to control my bowels," says one Wal-Mart customer.

"Oh no nobody want that," says another Wal-Mart customer.

Fillipp says there are no known risks or health concerns, but an immediate red flag if you over-indulge.

She says the best ally in the weight loss games is yourself, and with the right attitude, diet and proper exercise you will lose weight with no loss of bodily control necessary.

NewsChannel checked around town and found that CVS Pharmacies, Walgreens and Wal-Mart all carry Alli.

Source: http://www.kcbd.com/Global/story.asp?S=6723752&nav=menu69_6

That's because Alli, a lower-dose version of the prescription drug Xenical, could (cue the late-night talk-show hosts) make you soil your pants. But while Alli's most troublesome side effect, anal leakage, is sure to be good for a few laughs, millions of people who are desperate to take off weight might still decide the threat of an accident is worth it.

Unlike traditional diet pills, Alli, the first over-the-counter weight-loss product approved by the FDA, is not an appetite suppressant. Instead, it prevents the gastrointestinal system from absorbing about 25 percent of the fat a person consumes. If you eat more than the recommended 15 grams of fat at a meal, you might experience cramps and the uncontrollable escape of those extra fat grams.

For New Jersey native Paula Miguel, 35, however, that's just the incentive she needed to stay on track and lose 20 pounds. "I see Alli as a disciplinarian," says Miguel. "It keeps me accountable for everything I eat."

While many nutritionists agree that Alli can help block the absorption of fat calories, they are careful to note that if people are not dedicated to changing their eating habits, weight loss will be small or nonexistent, and the side effects will eventually cause them to stop taking the drug.

"For some people who are extremely motivated and don't mind a little bit of leakage, this may work for them," says Elisa Zied, a nutritionist from New York City. Zied is quick to add that Alli users should be sure to take a multivitamin every day, since the drug also decreases the absorption of fat-soluble minerals and vitamins such as E, A, D and K.

Critics say it's the low-fat, reduced-calorie diet Alli users are encouraged to follow that results in real weight loss. A new companion book, "The Alli Diet Plan," by Dr. Caroline Apovian, aims to maximize the drug's weight-loss potential with detailed meal plans and more than 200 low-fat recipes. But there's not much in the book that can't be found in lots of other diet books that don't endorse a particular weight-loss product. Dr. Carla Wolper of the New York Obesity Research Center says Alli offers dieters a slight edge, but permanent change comes from a change in attitude and behavior.

GlaxoSmithKline says people who use Alli lose 50 percent more weight than people who follow the same regimen but forgo the drug. All joking aside, Alli, like Xenical, has been proved to be safer than the over-the-counter appetite suppressants, which can cause heart and kidney damage and even seizures in some users.

The drugmaker hopes to stem the number of Alli dropouts by including with each $50 starter kit a weight-loss journal and a calorie and fat counter. In addition, the company is sponsoring an online behavioral support program. Dr. Vidhu Bansal, who led GlaxoSmithKline's Alli clinical trials, says that people who are looking for a quick fix shouldn't bother buying the drug: "People have to be committed to losing weight. They have to accept that they have to make a lifestyle change to get healthy."

More than 60 percent of Americans can be classified as overweight or obese. With the economic impact of obesity in the United States said to top $122 billion a year, commitment to a healthy lifestyle seems to be one thing we don't have.

Source: http://www.dailyherald.com/health/story.asp?id=326264

Source: http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/

Most women believe that diet pills will help them get into shape. It’s easy, just pop a pill and eat all you want, right? Wrong! Nutritionists recommend that you have a better chance of losing the pounds and keeping it that way by sweating out those calories rather than popping the pill. The reason being, diet pills can create complications if consumed for more than three months.

As of today, there are three different types of diet pills available in the market. One that suppresses appetite, the other that increases metabolism, and the last one that inhibits the absorption of fats. Payal Batra, nutritionist of Hiranandani hospital says, “Only the first and the third category of diet pills are recommended by nutritionists. The second one isn’t, because it has the least amount of scientific evidence to back it up.”

Sibutramine, the appetite suppresser and Oristat, the pill that inhibits absorption of fats by the body are the most popular diet pills in the market. However, neither of them can be consumed by anybody and everybody. “Diet pills are only subscribed to those who are around fifteen kilos overweight,” says Payal.

“When we feel that the person’s weight is hazardous to his/her life, only then do we subscribe the pills.” Though a point to be noted here is that these pills are never subscribed in seclusion; they are always accompanied with a well-planned diet and an exercise regime. 

As most pills have their side effects, so do diet pills. A faster heart rate and a risk of high blood pressure are what you need to watch out for. “We subscribe multiple vitamins with diet pills to avoid these problems,” reveals Payal, adding that a nutritionist has to be extremely careful while selecting a patient. “We insist that a patient lose his/her weight the natural way. If the patient is equipped with a particular tendency that restrains weight loss, only then do we give them these pills. For others, it is not recommended.”

So there you go, a short cut can never win long term success. You’d be better off exercising to shed those excess pounds, ‘coz popping diet pills will not help. On the contrary, it will just create additional medical complications.

Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1100734

Weight Los is one of the important issue is being discussed in New York. GlaxoSmithKline is a well-known healthcare production. It is trying to practice the country for alli by having exhibit in New York City.

Having a hectic Schedule Plus dieting can lead to person in stress. So to avoid this stress most people go for diet pills. And they expect a lot more from this diet pills. By having this thing in mind GlaxoSmithKline tries to give a wake up call to the people about the all diet drug. As this is the first over-the-counter pill approved by Food drug and administration.

The diet drug has been sold as Acomplia in the U.K. since June 2006 for treatment of obese and some overweight adults, and developer Sanofi Aventis has claimed some of the improvement in cardiometabolic risk factors observed in clinical trials cannot solely be attributed to weight loss.

Cardiometabolic risk factors -- including low HDL (good) cholesterol, high LDL (bad) cholesterol, elevated fat levels in the blood, high blood pressure and insulin resistance -- in combination increase a person's chance of developing heart disease and/or type 2 diabetes.

Acomplia "has a beneficial effect on blood glucose and lipid levels -- a more beneficial effect than would be expected from weight loss alone," Sanofi claims on its website.

But experts writing in the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin (DTB), published by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) on May 30th, said there was no proof in the clinical trials that Acomplia had any beneficial effects outside those expected by weight loss.

"It might be related to increased activity based on the lifestyle advice given to participants at the start of the trials," according to their report. "Furthermore, it is not known whether rimonabant's effects on individual risk factors translate into a reduced long-term likelihood of cardiovascular events."

The experts said the trials also showed rimonabant to have no effect on LDL cholesterol and little or no effect on high blood pressure.

While the drug is available in the U.K., the country's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) is still weighing whether and under what conditions the drug should be paid for by the National Health Service.

"Rimonabant has not been directly compared with other, less expensive, drug treatments for obesity. Also, as with these other treatments, it is not known whether rimonabant reduces the likelihood of obesity-related diseases, such as cardiovascular problems," the researchers concluded.

They said Xenical (orlistat) "is the drug for obesity for which there is the most evidence for efficacy and safety to date, and we have previously concluded that it is a reasonable option for obese patients where diet and exercise and/or behavioural measures alone have failed.

"On current evidence, we do not believe that rimonabant represents a significant advance for patients with obesity," they said.

Source: http://www.dietdrugreport.com/News/news-053007.htm

But is alli being over-hyped? GlaxoSmithKline doesn't think so.

"We're positioning alli as an honest voice in a category known for hype," said Joe Cadle, marketing director of GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare. "The alli experience will teach people the difference between alli and the rest of the weight-loss category." The OTC dosage of alli (orlistat) is 60 milligrams (mg), a dilution of the prescription amount. Orlistat is not a new weight-loss drug; the FDA approved it in 1999.

Cadle said that people currently spend $1 billion a year on ineffective weight-loss products that make unrealistic claims. "alli is much more than just pills in a bottle," he said, adding that GlaxoSmithKline was offering a companion book called Are You Losing It? Losing Weight Without Losing Your Mind and other weight-loss material.

But the magic question seeking the magic answer for millions of overweight Americans is, "Does it work?"

Not surprisingly, Cadle said it does, but not by itself. "alli is not a magic pill," he said. "You have to eat a reduced-calorie, low-fat diet and be willing to do the work. If you do, you can lose 50 percent more weight. If you lose 10 pounds without taking alli, you could lose 15 when taking it."

Marketed to overweight adults over age 18, alli is expected to cost between $1 and $2 a day. It works by blocking the body's absorption of fat.

It's designed not to have an adverse effect on the cardiovascular system as did other weight-loss products such as ephedra, Cadle said. The FDA banned ephedra after medical evidence indicated it increased heart attack risk.

Alli is not without its critics, however, chief among them Dr. Sidney M. Wolfe, director of Public Citizen's Health Research Group in Washington, D.C., who has spoken against orlistat's side effects before.

When another pharmaceutical company, Roche, marketed orlistat in prescription strength as Xenical, Wolfe spoke out. "Animal studies done by Roche show that rats developed aberrant crypti foci, ACF, precancerous lesions in the colon from Orlistat, which put them at higher risk of colon cancer," Wolfe said in a recent interview. "An independent study by researchers in 2006 found the same thing."

But another expert said Wolfe's concerns are unfounded.

"There are more than 100 clinical studies, including 30,000 clinical trial patients, and nine years of post-marketing surveillance with more than 29 million patient treatments, all showing no such risk with orlistat use," said Dr. Vidhu Bansal, director of medical affairs for GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare. "The FDA concluded the same in their recent review," she added.

Wolfe maintained that the FDA relied heavily on testimony by a panel comprised of pharmaceutical company representatives. But that is only part of the difficulty, he said. The side effects were embarrassing, dramatic and distasteful enough to cause orlistat to lose popularity.

"The RX (prescription) drug's popularity went down, because it caused all sorts of acute problems, mainly gastrointestinal," Wolfe said. "Twenty-five percent of people got oily spotting (from the rectum), because the fat is going in one end and coming out the other. You definitely wouldn't want to take it while on a first date."

Wolfe said some people also experienced gas, loose or more frequent stools, and inhibition of fat-soluble vitamins. "We wanted the FDA to ban the RX version," he said. "It should never have been approved for over-the-counter sales."

But the FDA denied Public Citizens' petition.

This is precisely why GlaxoSmithKline is strongly recommending that a person adopt a low-fat diet when using alli. "These unwelcome side effects will only occur if people eat too much fat while taking the weight-loss drug, Cadle said. "And if they eat too much fat, then they're not following the program."

Cadle said alli will be sold in drugstores, mass market retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target, club warehouse stores, and some grocery stores.

It sounds like the sort of bizarre prediction that 1960s futurologists made about the year 2000. But, astonishingly it’s the underground beauty trend that could have dire consequences.

Earlier this month, the FDA (Food & Drug Administration), the US body that approves and regulates drugs, cosmetics and supplements, agreed to let pharmaceutical giants Glaxo SmithKline sell a weight-loss drug, Alli, over the counter.

The drug is set to hit shelves in June this year. But, many people won’t have to wait until June to get their hands on it - despite the fact that it is still a prescription-only product.

The boom in online pharmacies and web-based drug sales has meant that, in a few clicks of a mouse you can have access to a number of drugs that, if their claims are to be believed, could do pretty much anything, from whittling down your waist size to ridding you of body hair.

Some of these drugs are prescription only, others may not even be licensed in this country, but if you’re willing to pay, there’s an unscrupulous dealer willing to sell.

Alli in the form of Xenical or Orlistat has been readily available on the internet for some time. It works by inhibiting the absorption of fat so that about 30% of the fat that you eat is passed through the body undigested.

Prescribed by a doctor, who can explain that it needs to be taken in conjunction with a low fat diet, it has the potential to be a useful and effective drug.

In the hands of someone who doesn’t understand how it works, and thinks it gives them carte blanche to eat what they like and still lose weight, you run the risk of, at the very least, suffering a number of unpleasant gastro-intestinal side effects.

But these risks don’t seem to deter a growing number of people who think that illicitly acquired drugs could offer a no pain, all gain route to the body beautiful.

Xenical is only one of a number of drugs being used and abused in this way. Last week the Mail revealed that a number of ‘diet’ drugs were being bought over the internet.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

The marketing blitz has already begun, even before the first over-the-counter drug hits stores. It's called Alli and it's a lower dose version of the prescription weight loss pill Xenical. The active ingredient in both is Orlistat, which works by limiting the amount of fat your body absorbs from food.

Shelly Huett said she's seen the scale go up and down and up again, after struggling with her weight for years. Then her doctor suggested she try Orlistat.

"It wasn't drastic results that first week."

But over the last year and a half, Shelly has lost 40 pounds. She credits better food choices, exercise and Orlistat.

"You have to be disciplined it's not a quick fix because you have to have a low fat diet."

"It really is not going to be a magic pill," said Dr. Janine Kyrillos of Jefferson University Hospital.

Dr. Kyrillos said the new, over-the-counter version, Alli, would be accessible to more people who want to jump start weight loss.

In studies, testers lost about 50 percent more weight than they would through dieting alone.

"They could hope to lose about five to ten pounds over six months on average," said Dr. Kyrillos.

But, there is a downside. The drug can cause some harsh side effects, especially if people don't follow the recommended low-fat diet.

She said, "One of the side effects, you are not absorbing the fat where does it go? It comes out of your stool. So you can get bloating, gas, diarrhea, and occasionally some anal leakage. So it can be quite unpleasant."

And embarrassing. These side effects are detailed in a guide included with the Alli starter pack.

The company marketing Alli, Glaxo Smith Kline, said it wants to discourage impulse buyers who don't know what they're getting into.

"The truth is if you take Alli and eat a meal that has too much fat in it, then that excess fat will pass out of your body in an uncomfortable way," said Joe Cadle of Glaxo Smith Kline.

Others are concerned about more than just frequent trips to the bathroom. Some eating disorder experts worry about the potential for abuse.

"The most alarming thing is that it will be out there without any guidance," said Dr. Jeffrey Brownstein of The Renfrew Center.

And just last month, the consumer watchdog group Public Citizen petitioned the FDA to keep Alli off the market, citing studies that show it increases the risk of colon cancer and other illnesses.

Glaxo strongly disagrees, and said the FDA reviewed 10 years of safety data from around the world before giving the final O-K to Alli.

"Alli is not absorbed into the system, it doesn't affect your central nervous system, it doesn't affect your brain, it doesn't affect your cardiovascular system, and it doesn't mess with your heart. It acts in the gut, that's a pretty safe place," said Cadle.

Alli Estimated Costs:
90 ct. Starter Pack = $50-$60
120 ct. Refill Pack = $70-$75

Source: http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=healthcheck&id=5318212

While the pricing of the drug has not been officially announced, a starter pack that includes 60 alli capsules (enough for three weeks assuming that you take one before each meal), the alli Shuttle (a carrying case for your pills), and several booklets including a calorie and fat counter and a daily journal is expected to cost between $50 and $60.

An alli starter pack that includes 90 alli capsules (enough for a month assuming that you take one before each meal) is expected to cost between $65 and $70.

An alli refill package -- consisting solely of 120 alli capsules (enough for 40 days) -- is expected to cost between $75 and $85.

Glaxo, meanwhile, has released the first two television commercials of what is ultimately expected to be a $100 million plus first-year blitz for the first FDA-approved over-the-counter diet drug.

Both of the first two commercials can be viewed by those who have missed them on television via the video sharing website YouTube.