Orlistat, an anti-obesity drug.
This drug and its category have been quite famous in the European countries especially in England, but is currently creating waves in the United States as well. Chemically called Tetrahydrolipstatin, this drug is customised to treat obesity. Mainly concerned to reducing the intake of calories, this drug prevents the uptake of fats in the human body. Extracted from the bacterium Streptomyces Toxytricini, orlistat is a derivative of the chemical lipstatin that acts as a natural inhibitor of pancreatic lipase.
The simple and stable nature of Orlistat made it ideal to be used as an anti-obesity drug. The drug Orlistat has a wide market in Europe, USA and Australia, but its generics are available from Russia and India.
The amount of weight lost upon using the drug varies and a five percent fat loss had been reported in about 45% of the subjects who had been experimented upon. The weight lost was not necessarily all fat. Examinations have revealed muscle loss as well. Whenever the intake of Orlistat had been stopped, the people have complained of weight gain.
Orlistat when consumed has many side effects too.
The first and the most prominent ones include gastro-intestinal track discomforts. These discomforts and clinical conditions include faecal incontinence, steatorrhea and frequent bowel movements. The doctors will recommend the affected to be cautious of the possible side effects all the time until there is a state of serious medical attention. There is a common saying, “prevention is better than cure”, so one must prevent the intake of fatty foods and follow a strict diet regimen.
The working of Orlistat is such that resorts to aversion therapy which associates exaggerated unpleasant treatment effects when fat is consumed and discourages the user from taking in fat rich substances.
One has to take several precautions while on Orlistat. Fat soluble vitamins and other fat soluble nutrients are inhibited by Orlistat. Multivitamin tablets are recommended with Orlistat, which contain vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, and vitamin K and Beta-carotene once before going to bed.
Orlistat is also sold as an OTC (over the counter) drug, and there are also many websites available that offer the drug online. Orlistat is one of the cheapest anti-obesity drugs and generally no prescription is required. Some websites guarantee overnight delivery on ordering Orlistat online.
Though prescription is not needed one must always take doctor’s advice while opting for this type of drug.
Intake of Orlistat in large amounts can have serious health repercussions.