Diet Pills Alli: Low-Dose Xenical

The first FDA-approved, over-the-counter diet pill hits shelves this summer. The pill, only available by prescription until now, promises to melt away fat, but does it really work?

(The following is a transcript from KXAN's Shannon Wolfson.)

We'd all like that quick fix: no more long hours at the gym and a little cheat on our diets.
 
So how about a pill to help you lose 5 percent of your body fat?

The FDA says a pill called Alli can help you do it.
 
Alli goes on sale at your local drug store without a prescription this summer.
 
Sound too good to be true?

Family physician Dr. Kerry Rhodes says it just might be.

"It's not gonna be the rapid weight loss or a great quantity of weight loss that people would hope for," said Rhodes.

Rhodes has prescribed the pill for obese patients but says the success is limited.

"It's not highly successful like people would want it to be necessarily. You'll see anywhere from a three- to five-pound extra weight loss on top of what you might obtain from diet and exercise over a six-month period," said Rhodes.
 
Here's how it works: you take one pill three times a day with a meal.

Alli works in your intestines to block some of the fat you eat from being absorbed and digested.

But if the fat isn't being absorbed, it has to go somewhere, and that leads to some pretty uncomfortable side effects.

"Bloating and gas and bowel pattern change, which is not very comfortable in some people," said Rhodes.

Here's the reality: you've heard it before, and any medical expert will tell you that no pill, over-the-counter, or prescription, is going to take the weight off and keep it off without a healthy diet and plenty of exercise.

Kathy Redden has been a fitness trainer for 18 years. She says there's no substitute for hard work.

"Everybody wants a quick fix. Everybody wants results quickly and fast, and unfortunately, health is just not something that comes fast. It takes time, it takes commitment, it takes effort," said Redden.
 
And she worries about those looking for a magic pill.

"The side effects that are noticeable are not great, but they're livable, but what about the long-term effects, that it hasn't been around long enough to see what those are?" said Redden.
 
In a clinical trial, 35 percent of patients gained the weight back after stopping the drug.

Starting next month, you can get it without a prescription for about $55 a month.

Just don't plan on skipping your next workout.

The consumer advocacy group Public Citizen strongly opposes selling Alli over-the-counter, calling it, "the height of recklessness" and "a dangerous mistake" because of questionable benefits and possible adverse effects.

Source: http://www.kxan.com/Global/story.asp?S=6544894&nav=0s3d

Imagine if you could totally transform your looks just by popping a pill. No need to spend hours down the gym undergoing punishing workouts in pursuit of a perfectly proportioned body, no fake tans, sunbeds or hours baking on the beach to get the perfect golden glow, no need for time-consuming facials or expensive anti-ageing treatments, just swallow a pill or two with your breakfast, and you’re done.

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.

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The landscape for weight loss is about to change. A diet pill that once needed a doctors prescription is soon to hit stores. But before you think this is a "magic" pill, there are some "interesting" side effects even the company wants you to know.

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Diet pill alli (low-dose orlistat) will officially go on sale on June 15th, according to distributor GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare.

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.

As part of the prelaunch educational campaign for the diet pill that Glaxo agreed to at the insistence of the FDA, the first two commercials are very slick but soft-sell and are designed to push people to Glaxo's internet website, myalli.com, which is expected to play a major role in the company's marketing.

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