Scientists in sight of a successful therapy for weight loss |
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Tue, 26 Jul 2005 09:05
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LONDON: Scientists are on the threshold of evolving a new therapy in the battle of the personal bulge. A hormone-based drug that can suppress appetite and reduce food intake seems to have the potential for a blockbuster product. The hormone is known to signal the brain that the stomach is full and there is no need for any food intake.
A team of medical scientists from the Imperial College, London, carried out the study and their findings are published in the Diabetes journal, The process involves administering injections on patients of a natural hormone found in man's small intestine, oxyntomodulin, which conveys to the brain that enough food has been consumed.
The team of researchers, led by Prof Steve Bloom of Imperial College and Hammersmith Hospital, found it is possible to reduce body weight by as much as five pounds every month by using this therapy.
As of now, the long-term solution to the weight problem has been to reduce the size of the stomach through surgery.
Bloom and his team found that a patient undergoing the surgery and reducing the size of his stomach was physically not able to eat, yet he had a feeling that the stomach is full. Investigations led to the isolation of oxyntomodulin, the hormone found in the stomach, as responsible for alerting the brain that the stomach is full.
Bloom says larger trials are needed to establish the efficacy of the therapy. His team is now trying to secure necessary funding for this purpose.
The researchers are evolving a better method of administering the hormone, possibly reduction in the number of injections -- three per day at present -- or an oral version.
Said Bloom: "Not only is oxyntomodulin naturally occurring, so has virtually no side effects, it could be ideal for general use as it can be self-administered. We still need to conduct larger clinical trials to test its effectiveness over longer periods."
The experiment involved 26 volunteers, half of them under the oxyntomodulin therapy and the other half consuming placebos. Those who received the hormone were found to have lost over five pounds in a month compared with one pound by those on the placebo.
Britain has more than half the adult population as obese, which is a drag on its medical and industrial resources.
Bloom and his researchers are concerned about the possible use of the hormone by slimmers. It could be misused by those following a weight control regime.
Said Bloom: "You couldn't let young girls of average weight or an anorexic use this because it literally takes your appetite away."
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