This headline (from many sources) this week struck me:
"FDA Panel Backs Approval for Obesity Pill"
Umm.....
The best treatment for obesity is not FDA approved; it's available without a prescription; and it costs you nothing.
IT'S DIET AND EXERICSE, PEOPLE!
Weight loss is actually simple - you can even boil it down to an easy formula:
Calorie Intake < Calorie Expenditure
That's it. Burn more than you take in. Sure, a bunch of different ways to do it - exercise more, eat less, eat cleanly, cut out carbs/fats/protein/sweets/milk/soda/you get the idea. Most people would never need a pill if they just followed the equation above.
But as a friend pointed out, that takes effort and self control; american consumers will never go for it.
So many things wrong with this. First, it's not even a new drug, it's a combination of off-script treatments of other drugs and part of Fen-Phen. The potential for abuse, heart problems and birth defects would not make it worth it to me. Second, it's ridiculous that people expect a pill to make it all better, but they are not willing to change their lifestyle in any way. I've been watching the show My 600-lb Life. And even after bariatric surgery, some of them are still eating fast food, and their families (who are all heavy) are eating horribly right in front of them. None of them do any exercise to help lose the weight, they just expect the surgery to be magic. OK, rant over, the whole situation just makes me so angry.
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