don's report archive

by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.

Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

The challenge to become and to remain fit and trim over time is daunting, for most. In fact, efforts to lose weight via dieting and exercise are usually futile, for most people. We know this to be true because 64 percent of the population is overweight. The reality for most is "icantdoit."

The only viable option is to give up -- and then lose weight. By giving up, that is, acknowledging "icantdoit," pressure is removed, expectations are made modest and small changes for the better can be appreciated as successes.

Most overweight people are or have been made desperate by their situation. They try a dozen or more of the hundreds of popular diets. Diets sometimes work well, for a few weeks, until the dieters return to their normal food and lifestyle patterns. Each successive failure increases frustration and angst.

It's a deadly cycle, and leads to risky choices.

The latest trend in risky, really bad choices by the overweight is using medications for this purpose, but NOT weight-loss meds. Weight-loss meds do not work any better than liquid diets, solid waste diets, low and high-carb diets, fat and carb diets and so on. However, they are, for the most part, harmless enough. They can, for example, moderately suppress appetite and/or food cravings. But a lot of folks, it seems, are taking OTHER medications for weight-loss.

The new meds of choice, usually legally prescribed by doctors but also obtained from Internet pharmacies or from Canada, are unrelated to and definitely not designed for weight loss purposes. Believe it or not, people are taking anti-seizure medications, antidepressants and drugs engineered to treat attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder, depression, epilepsy, diabetes, sleep disorders, smoking and opiate overdoses. More than a few weight-loss innovators take combinations of these drugs, oftentimes adding a weight-loss medication for good measure. (See Elizabeth Bernstein, "Drugs Approved for Diabetes, Depression, Epilepsy Grow Popular For Their Weight-Loss Side Effects," Wall Street Journal, August 22, 2006; Page D1.) None of these drugs has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for diet purposes.

The WSJ article cited above notes that doctors believe (hard data are not available on this trend) that the principle abusers of such drugs for weight-loss purposes are women, including obese and anorexic women and a wide range of others, from "soccer moms to Hollywood starlets, debutantes and college kids."

Why do people do this? No mystery about that -- it's easier than exercise or exerting the discipline required to eat properly. A representative for the American Dietetic Association put it simply, "People are looking for a quick fix. Taking a pill is so much easier than going to the gym or cutting back on portions."

Easier, yes, but wiser or more effective? Definitely not. Still, most know at some level that they can't do it, so they don't try to exercise and eat right. Either or both would be too hard and they would only fail, anyway. At least that's what they think, and since they think that, it's true.

Unfortunately but not surprisingly, the drugs taken for weight loss not intended for that purpose cause undesired side effects. A partial list, also cited in the above noted WSJ article, include the following:

• Abdominal cramps
• Anxiety
• Insomnia
• Dizziness
• Cognitive problems, including memory loss
• Confusion or difficulty concentrating
• Increased risk of suicide in children and adolescents
• Abdominal cramping, gas and anal leakage
• Serious cardiovascular events
• Sudden death

To their credit, the drug companies are urging doctors and consumers not to use products never intended for weight-loss for this purpose. Of course, issuing this precaution both ethically and legally is a no-brainer, but let's give them a little credit here, anyway. It's not often the pharmaceutical companies are caught red-handed doing something good.

One woman quoted in the WSJ story decided, after experiencing a few of the above listed symptoms from taking such meds for weight-loss, that it probably was not such a good idea: "These minor side effects aren't that minor. I'd rather be chubby than bald."

She might have added, "or dead."

Be well. Look on the bright side of life.

(Note: This essay will be filed in the archives in the PHYSICAL DOMAIN under the skill area of adaptations and challenges. Additional articles related to this theme may be found there.)

(Ed. Note: Views expressed in this and other columns are those of the author and not necessarily those of the SeekWellness Editorial Board.)

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