Solve this conundrum: Why are diet pills and effective weight loss programs becoming more copious yet the number of obese persons continues to augment?
As far as the simple laws of science goes, obesity can be considered to be a case of caloric intake versus caloric outflow, but the scientists think otherwise. According to them, obesity is a complex illness and should be treated as such.
Most programs concentrate on patients consuming less and exercising more, which lifestyle has to be sustained over time to both, lose weight and to maintain the weight loss, which happens rarely.
Many have seen diet pills as an effective way to lose weight. But, until and unless some effort comes from the receiving end, the drugs may not be much successful rather than just maintaining weight loss rather than promoting weight loss. There are currently nine diet pills drugs on the market. Most work by suppressing the appetite.
The key seems to be the maintenance of lifestyle changes. In structured weight loss programs, the support systems such as group meetings provide a positive reinforcement for the changes. Eventually the support systems end and it becomes even more difficult to continue the lifestyle modifications.
This is where the researchers believe the drugs could be very helpful-maintaining weight loss over time. Since most studies have focused on short periods of time, it is not known for how long a particular drug could be effective.
Copyright © 2005 Chris Read
About Chris: Chris Read, editor of
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