The science behind Rimonabant
Wherever you look on the library shelves or on the internet, the news is the same. Some medications deliver what they claim with a strong safety record. Other medications are not so effective and have safety problems. All this shows is that medications on their own are rarely enough. To a greater or lesser extent, they cannot “cure” you or make you a better person. If you really want changes, you have to do that for yourself.
So what does Rimonabant claim? It helps those who are overweight to lose some of that weight. This emphasises the relationship between the person and the medication. Practical experience, now backed up by medical research, shows that you have to control your calorie intake, first to lose weight, and then to keep it off. No drug currently on the market is a magic bullet to kill the “fat” in your body. Relief from being overweight comes as a package of diet control, exercise and, now, Rimonabant.
So what does Rimonabant do and why is it only a support to dieters?
There has been continuing controversy over soft drugs. World wide, cannabis is the third most commonly used drug after tobacco and alcohol. In the UK alone, it is estimated that there are 3m frequent users. Active use of the drug began in Europe in the 13th century and it was widely prescribed to control convulsions, for its analgesic qualities, for the relief of anxiety, and for the effective treatment of cramps, asthma and dysmenorrhea as Queen Victoria was able to confirm. Despite this, it was banned in the USA in 1937 and made unlawful in the UK in 1971. Research into its use has, however, continued.
From the earliest times, it was noticed that cannabis users ate more and gained weight. Anecdotal evidence clearly showed that cannabis increased appetite. Upon detailed lab testing, a mechanism called the the cannabinoid receptors in the brain was found to affect the extent to which we feel hunger. The hypothesis was formed that blocking these receptors might reduce appetite. Clinical evidence was first obtained in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study involving 1,500 patients. The patients received either a placebo or dosages of Rimonabant varying from 5mg to 20mg. In combination with a calorie-controlled diet, two-thirds of the patients taking 20mg Rimonabant lost 5% of their body weight over a one year period and reduced their waist measurements by an average of 4cm. There was also evidence suggesting that the risk factors associated with cardiovascular problems were reduced.
Randomised clinical trials involving more than 6,600 obese or overweight participants have continued and show Rimonabant as able to make statistically significant improvements to body weight and measurement. Interestingly, a RIO-North American trial run over two years found that all the weight loss achieved in the first year was lost when Rimonabant was withdrawn. The performance of the placebo and Rimonabant converged during the second year. The CRESCENDO trial involving 17,000 high-risk patients will follow the group for for between four and five years on Rimonabant 20mg versus placebo. This should provide better answers on the long-term benefits of Rimonabant and determine how it affects cardiovascular factors over a significant period of time.
Despite a growing body of research tending to confirm Rimonabant as effective without serious side-effects for the majority of participants in the clinical studies, medical researchers continue to disagree, sometimes quite angrily, about whether cannabinoid treatment is proper. This is a highly political issue. Governments legislate to classify or declassify so-called drugs of abuse on the basis of informed medical opinion. If cannabinoid treatments are more clearly shown as therapeutic without adverse side-effects, this will enhance the claim of cannabis users for the drug to be decriminalised. Medical science does not want to take sides, but is caught in the middle of the debate.
In the meantime. Rimonabant continues to build up a reputation for effectiveness in the control of body weight so long as it is combined with consistent control of calorie intake. When people lose momentum, they drop back into bad eating habits and give up on their best intentions to exercise. The result is that precious weight lost is slowly gained again. So, if you want to control whether you feel hungry as a support for eating less, use Rimonabant.
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| Giving up smoking |
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| Weight loss |
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