Clinical Study of New Weight Loss Medication
Pill
Zonegran Weight Loss Drug
In a recent weight loss study, obese people
lost 13 pounds after 16 weeks of adding the epilepsy drug Zonegran to
a low-calorie diet.The study appeared in the April 9 issue of The Journal
of the American Medical Association.
Zonegran is already FDA approved. It's
used to treat epilepsy. The drug drew attention to it's weight loss benefits
during clinical trials when epilepsy patients treated with the drug lost
weight.
Duke University researchers led by Kishore
M. Gadde, MD, put 60 obese volunteers on a low-calorie diet. In addition,
half were given the Zonegran weight loss drug, while the others got a
look-alike placebo. After 16 weeks, those who got only the diet lost about
two pounds.
But those getting Zonegran lost an average
of 13 pounds.
Side effects of the Zonegran weight loss
drug - mostly fatigue - were mild. However, Zonegran is known to cause
dizziness, impaired thinking, and sleepiness in epilepsy patients. On
rare occasions it has also been linked to kidney stones. Zonegran's manufacturer,
Elan Biopharmaceuticals, provided the drug for the study.
According to weight loss researchers,
"The results of this short-term study provide preliminary evidence
that [Zonegran], in conjunction with diet, can be more effective than
diet alone for obese patients seeking to lose weight."
Source:
Journal of the American Medical Association.
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