Weight Loss from Epilepsy Drugs
In the search for effective treatments
of obesity, there's a surprising finding: some drugs normally used to
treat epilepsy are now helping people to lose weight.
Weight Loss & Epilepsy Drugs
Research from the Comprehensive Weight Loss Center and Weill Medical College
of Cornell University show that the drugs topamax and zonegran have been
shown to reduce weight. Weight loss experts are not sure how the drugs
work, but have noted that people who took the prescriptions described
having fewer thoughts of food and feeling full sooner. Patients with binge
eating disorders think about eating less.
Weight Loss Drugs Studies
The drugs' effect on weight loss may show that so-called psychological
eating is actually tied to a physical trait. Some weight loss studies
have shown weight losses of 10 percent or greater. In one of the epilepsy
studies, people who were taking the drug lost 11 percent of their body
weight, and they weren't even on a diet. They were just taking the drug
because of their epilepsy.
Weight Control & Drugs
Researchers are learning a lot about how the body controls weight and
they're finding new ways to control weight. There are more than a hundred
treatments that are now in development.
Source: CBS Broadcasting Inc. Oct, 2003
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