It’s a dilemma for many parents and pediatricians: Should an overweight child facing the risk of teasing and eventually Type 2 diabetes take Adderall – an amphetamine approved to treat ADHD – for weight loss?

Adderall, like other drugs in its class, is an appetite suppressant. While it’s legal (and commonplace) for doctors to prescribe medicines “off label,” is it ethical? More importantly, is it safe? (more…)

As you may have heard already, a new over-the-counter diet drug has hit store shelves: Alli is a half-dose version of prescription Orlistat (Xenical), a weight-loss drug. It is sold and marketed as Alli (Orlistat 60mg Capsules) FDA-approved weight loss aid.

Alli keeps your intestines from absorbing fat from food. But watch out: Its main side effect is runny stools, especially after a high-fat meal. Alli can also keep your body from taking in fat-soluble vitamins, so the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends taking a multi while using it. (more…)

Weight loss pills have become a popular way to slim down, but popping a weight loss pill to lose weight may lead to unpleasant experiences and sometimes, can be deadly. In 2003, the Food and Drug Administration banned ephedra, after it received more than 14,000 complaints of adverse effects.

Many similar items — including yohimbe, a sexual stimulant linked to heart and respiratory problems; and chaparral, which can cause abnormal liver function — are still available.

“These products are usually a bad idea either for your health, wallet — or both, “says Madelyn Fernstrom, PhD, CNS, founder and director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s Weight Management Center. (more…)

Continued from Energy Bars While On a Diet.

They promise a lot and it sounds good, but you don’t need diet pills with fiber to lose weight or to get your fiber. Pills don’t work, so forget about them. The key here is the fiber.

Fiber is proven to help people feel full longer, which will have them eating less and losing weight. As an added bonus, fiber has been linked to a lower risk of heart disease and some cancers. (more…)

Fen-Phen, an off-label combination of two Rx drugs, was voluntarily withdrawn in 1997, after numerous reports of heart-valve disease. Its maker paid $3.75 billion to thousands of claimants.

Dexatrim, an OTC diet aid, was linked in 2000 to hemorrhagic stroke. Its maker Chattem settled a class-action lawsuit for up to $15 million. (more…)

Continued from Alli Weight Loss Drug.

Dr. James Early, a University of Kansas professor who heads a weight clinic, and Dr. Louis Aronne, an obesity specialist at Weill Cornell Medical College (and a paid consultant to GSK during Alli’s testing) answer questions about Alli diet pill.

Who is Alli for? Aronne: It’s approved for people 18 and older. They should be overweight (body-mass index of 27 or higher) and committed to a low-fat diet. It’s not for them if they think it’s a magic pill. (more…)

Continued from Alli Diet Pills. Some contend that Alli’s benefits — Alli’s maker GlaxoSmithKline claims 50 percent more weight loss than with a low-calorie diet and exercise alone — aren’t worth potential risks.

Dr. Sidney Wolfe, of Ralph Nader’s watchdog association Public Citizen, petitioned the FDA to deny Alli’s approval, citing a study linking Orlistat to “precancerous colon lesions” in rats. Says Wolfe: “This is the height of recklessness.”

In its response the FDA wrote, “evidence … does not support a causal relationship between Orlistat and colorectal carcinoma.” Since going on sale June 15, Alli ($50 for a two-month supply) is, anecdotally, an early hit. (more…)

Here’s the deal: If you’re taking the new over-the-counter diet drug Alli, and you want the chicken with crispy noodles, you have to really, really want the chicken with crispy noodles.

Against her better judgment, Alli-user Caryn Eyring, 39, ordered just such a chicken appetizer during a recent dinner out. “I knew darn well it was cooked in oil,” says Eyring, a Glendale, N.Y., secretary.

But she ate it anyway, and the next day suffered what she — and the official Alli Web site — calls “a treatment effect,” or an “oily diarrhea” that occurs when a person eats more than 15 grams of fat in a single meal. (more…)