What Is Xenical?

It is a prescription medication that is used with doctor-approved exercise, behavior changes, and a reduced-calorie diet program to help you lose weight. It can also be used in the presence of other risk factors or diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes mellitus or hyperlipidemia. this product may be used alone or with other medications. Taking orlistat can also help keep you from gaining back weight you have lost.

Xenical and diabetes

One of the newcomers to the world of weight loss not only helps shed pounds, but also can help overweight people with diabetes drop their blood sugar. Xenical even allowed some people to take less of their diabetes medication.

Xenical and weight loss

Xenical (orlistat) blocks some of the fat that you eat, keeping it from being absorbed by your body. Xenical is used to aid in weight loss, or to help reduce the risk of regaining weight already lost. This medication must be used together with a reduced-calorie diet and is to used only by adults.

Xenical is different

Xenical works differently from other weight loss drugs by reducing the absorption of fat from the intestines. And since the drug does not get into your bloodstream, it lacks the serious nervous system and heart effects of appetite suppressants such as the combination treatment fen-phen.

Xenical does, in fact, seem to be effective for reducing the chance of heart disease by lowering cholesterol, especially in overweight people with type 2 diabetes, the most common type of the blood sugar problem that frequently affects overweight people.

Diet alone is not enough

“Achieving sufficient weight loss is a vital first step in the treatment of people with type 2 diabetes, although less than 10% of people with type 2 diabetes manage to achieve enough weight loss through diet alone,” stated Markholf Hanefeld, MD, lead author of a study from the University of Dresden in Germany, in a news release.

In Hanefeld’s study of overweight people with type 2 diabetics, everyone was treated with a mildly reduced calorie low-fat diet. Either Xenical or a placebo pill was given to more than 360 people for one year. Those on Xenical lost an average of 12 lbs, about twice the weight that the people taking the dummy pill lost. The Xenical group also saw more slimming of their waistline than those taking placebo.

The results of the study were presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes meeting in Glasgow, Scotland.

Weight loss results were similar in another study by Alfredo Halpern, MD, of 338 people at the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil. In both studies, most people took Xenical without any trouble, and the drug produced substantial drops in blood sugar, cholesterol, and blood pressure. In addition, many people were able to cut back on their other diabetes medications.

Best way to use Xenical

If you are using the over-the-counter product to self-treat, read all directions on the product package before taking this medication.

If your doctor has prescribed this medication, read the Patient Information Leaflet if available from your pharmacist before you start taking orlistat and each time you get a refill. Take this medication as directed by your doctor, by mouth with liquid sometime during each meal that contains fat or within 1 hour after the meal, usually 3 times daily.

If you miss a meal or your meal contains no fat, skip that dose of the medication. To decrease the chance of unpleasant side effects, it is very important that no more than 30% of the calories from what you eat come from fat. Your daily intake of fat, protein, and carbohydrates should be evenly spread over 3 main meals.

Do not up your dose or use this drug more often or for longer than prescribed. Your condition will not improve any faster, and your risk of side effects will increase.

Because this drug can interfere with the absorption of certain vitamins (fat-soluble vitamins including A, D, E, K), a daily multivitamin supplement containing these nutrients is recommended. Take the multivitamin at least 2 hours before or 2 hours after taking orlistat (such as at bedtime).

Xenical could have other health benefits

Although these results look very promising, experts tell Web Md that only time will determine if Xenical can lead to actual improvements in heart disease and heart attacks. But the FDA is already considering adding Xenical to the current arsenal of drugs to fight type 2 diabetes.

Xenical is not perfect

One worry about  this proven medication  is that it can cause people to have a really bad case of the runs, at the expense of you losing some key nutrients from your digestive tract.So specialists caution that Xenical should be just a piece of a weight loss program, since a low-fat eating routine will help prevent the diarrhea. Xenical ought to be consolidated with a reasonable, low-fat eating routine monitored by a health professional.

In some people, weight loss may reduce risk of developing diabetes. So many doctors already are using  proven medication  for this reason. Nevertheless Xenical has an important place in helping people who are obese or who are overweight with obesity-related health problems. To learn more click here.