Reducing diabetes risk

Treatment of type 2 diabetes has recently acquired a new development as the European Commission (EC) recently approved the use of the weight loss medication, orlistat, in managing and reducing the risk for developing type 2 diabetes.

Its efficacy in reducing the risk of developing type 2 diabetes is backed by the landmark XENDOS (Xenical in the prevention of Diabetes in Obese Subjects) study, which showed for the first time that a fat blocker medication can significantly lessen the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

XENDOS is the largest and longest study, which lasted up to four years to show the safety and efficacy of this drug.

It showed that treatment with orlistat produced significant improvements in cardiovascular risk factors.

Results showed that losing weight with orlistat reduced the risk of developing diabetes by 37 percent compared with losing weight with lifestyle changes alone.

Orlistat also produced significantly greater long-term weight loss and improvements in cardiovascular risk factors (including blood pressure and lipids) compared to lifestyle changes alone.

The study also confirmed that orlistat has a long-term safety profile that is unmatched among any other drugs.

There are more than 30 reputable journals and evidence-based, double-blind randomized controlled trials showing that orlistat is effective in managing Syndrome X.

"Orlistat is the only fat blocker treatment that has been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for use in the management of obesity in adults and adolescents. There are clinical studies to prove that it can also improve total cholesterol level and blood sugar level and reduce waist circumference," said Dr. John Foreyt, a professor in the Department of Medicine and the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science in Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas.

Orlistat is the only available fat blocker medication that works locally in the gut to prevent dietary fat absorption.

There are clinical studies to prove that it blocks 30 percent of the dietary fat intake, and could lower the seven parameters in patients with Syndrome X: waist circumference, cholesterol, triglycerides, blood sugar, weight, LDL-HDL ratio and blood pressure.