Inflated diet ads

"Buyer beware" is the message consumers should remember when purchasing dietary supplements for weight loss, says Judith S. Stern, vice president of the American Obesity Association in Northwest.

"I am optimistic for development of new drugs for basic causes of obesity, but right now on the over-the-counter market... there are exaggerated claims," she says. "They usually have testimonials that aren't true."

Diet products, either prescription or dietary supplements, always seem to be at the center of controversy. Doctors continue to debate whether the products are effective at achieving weight loss and how dangerous the side effects might be.

This month, the Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine published a study saying "evidence is weak that any of the commonly used alternative products is effective for reducing weight in moderately overweight individuals."

Right now, the only prescription drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the long-term treatment of obesity include sibutramine, also known as Meridia; and orlistat, also known as Xenical.

For short-term treatment of obesity lasting a few weeks, the government organization also approved Phentermine, also known as Adipex; and diethylpropion, also known as Tenuate.

Anyone trying to lose weight should be under the care of a physician, says Dr. Ramin Oskoui, clinical cardiologist at Washington Hospital Center. He says people should not take dietary supplements for weight loss without the advice of a doctor, especially because other medications could react poorly with the diet product.

In fact, Dr. Oskoui says gastric bypass surgery for weight problems has become far more safe and effective than taking diet products.
"Sustained weight loss is best achieved with a combination of diet and exercise," he says. "When you weigh 350 pounds, and you should weigh 175 pounds, there is no pill that will get you there, but there are a number of pills that will get you in trouble. ... People have paid a price for trying to lose weight this way."

In 1997, the FDA removed the prescription drugs fenfluramine and dexfenfluramine from the market. However, it did not withdraw Phentermine, the third-most commonly used obesity drug.

Of the patients evaluated for taking fenfluramine and dexfenfluramine, about 30 percent of them had abnormal echocardiograms. The organization stated that "these new findings suggest fenfluramine and dexfenfluramine are the likely cause of heart valve problems of the type that prompted FDA's two earlier warnings concerning 'fen-phen,' a combination of fenfluramine and Phentermine."

When fen-phen first came out, it looked like it was a good drug, but some people developed heart valve abnormalities, without presenting obvious symptoms, says Dr. Rick Morrissey, chief of cardiology at Georgetown University Hospital.