Pill Treats Smoking and Obesity
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James Joyner | Tuesday, March 9, 2004 |
UPI: Two-for-one pill treats smoking, obesity
An experimental drug just completing a final round of international studies is the first pill to effectively treat the biggest heart disease risk factors, researchers said Tuesday.Moreover, this single pill, which targets switches in the brain that control appetite and nicotine cravings and also regulates cellular switches that control the way fat is burned and stored, apparently helps people lose the most dangerous fat — the stuff around the waist called central adiposity.
The potential wonder drug is just completing its phase III clinical trials and could be available by late 2005, Jean-Pierre Despres, professor of medicine and nutrition Laval University in Quebec City, Canada, told United Press International.
Despres and Dr. Robert Anthenelli, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and Cincinnati VA Medical Center, presented results of the two latest studies of the drug — called rimonabant — at the 53rd annual scientific sessions of the American College of Cardiology.
Anthenelli said rimonabant has the potential to be the first “drug to treat the two major risk factors for heart disease: smoking and obesity.”
This sounds very promising. Now, if they can just find a pill that treats laziness and procrastination, we’ll be set.
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.
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I dunno, I am hopin' they can make some really important discoveries, like a pill that will make your penis larger, or one to give you an erection when you can't get it up. ;)
I want the pill that lets me throw a football through a tire swing.
James, this sounds like an interesting pill. I should start smoking so I can take it . . .
My doctor put me on the pill that combats lazyness and procrastination. I just need to get the prescription filled.
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