The weight-loss drug Alli is now available to buy from pharmacists, but is this a positive step towards tackling the obesity crisis?
Yes
‘Two thirds of the UK population are currently overweight and around a third of these are obese, so there’s no doubting that there’s a weight problem in this country and something needs to be done,’ says Dr David Haslam, chair of the National Obesity Forum. Alli is a weight-loss drug that inhibits fat absorption, so that 25 per cent of all fat that you eat goes straight through your digestive system without being absorbed. For every 2lb you lose, Alli helps you lose another 1lb. It’s a lower dosage over-the-counter version of Orlistat, a prescription weight-loss drug for people with a BMI of over 28.
‘Research has shown that consumers are spending millions of pounds each year on fad diets. Medically proven licensed products give them the option of something which can genuinely support meaningful weight loss,’ says Dr Haslam. For best results you need to follow a low-fat diet, as eating fatty foods will cause unpleasant side effects including oily diarrhoea that may leak.
‘People need to understand that Alli doesn’t make weight loss inevitable, it just makes it easier,’ says Dr Haslam. ‘If they choose to eat fatty foods, despite the advice that they are given from both the pharmacist and the literature that is handed out, then they’ll have to accept that they’ll suffer the side effects afterwards.’ Dr Haslam also believes that the effectiveness of the pill far outweighs the cost (approximately £50 for a month’s supply) and lack of face-to-face care that you get from a doctor-prescribed medication.
‘The introduction of Alli into the marketplace has meant that people who may have been too embarrassed to go to their doctor for help, are now going into pharmacies instead,’ says Dr Haslam. ‘For many, losing weight through weight-loss pills can become the catalyst to improvements in their overall health and self-esteem.’ And that, in turn, could help keep weight off.
No
‘As soon as you make any kind of medication available over the counter as opposed to on prescription, it will be open to abuse,’ says Fiona Taylor from Dieticians in Obesity Management (DOM UK), a specialist group of the British Dietetic Association (BDA). ‘No matter how many specifications are required of you, or how much training is given to the pharmacists, if someone is determined enough, they will obtain medications such as Alli whether they need it or not.’
Many dieticians worry that people will see Alli as a magic bullet, and believe taking a tablet a day will solve all their weight worries. ‘Drugs do not necessarily deal with the underlying reasons for weight gain. People often eat for a psychological reasons and behaviour therapy delivered by a trained professional is the real key to helping people deal with the issues that have caused weight gain in the first place,’ explains Taylor.
Other concerns about Alli being given over the counter include the ease with which people who don’t need it could obtain it. Pharmacies that stock the drug aren’t required to weigh people in front of them, and may have to trust that the customer is telling them their true weight. The ease of availability of the drug could mean that people with eating disorders could get an overweight friend to buy it for them. As soon as Alli went on sale, websites sprang up offering the drug at a cheaper rate. This could prove dangerous, as there’s absolutely no guarantee that the drug you get sent is even the genuine thing.
‘While we should welcome new ways to tackle obesity, we need to wait until there’s been a full review of the Alli support programme, when the results of real life users who take the pill have been fully investigated,’ says Taylor.
Healthy verdict
There is a place for the use of weight-loss drugs like Alli, and we agree that it can be the first step towards tackling a serious issue. However, we believe that educating people to follow a healthy, balanced diet with plenty of exercise is the most effective way to lasting weight loss. And tackling the psychological issues behind weight gain is essential.
Words: Hannah Fox
2 comments
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ive been on a diet since my 2 year old was born trying one diet pill or other spent hundreds and hundreds on machines and gadgets but still at square 1.have seen this product but apprehended in asking about it from doctor or pharmacist but thankyou i now can buy it with confidenceand hope that it will help me loose this excess weight.
Comment by sadia on 11 December 2009 at 1:30 pm
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The only way to lose weight is less in and more out! Less food in and more exercise – a balance, and re-evaluating the type of food you eat from unhealthy to healthy, so that when you do actually lose the weight you need to lose, you are still eating healthily and you will maintain your weight and not put it all back on again.
People can spend £££’s on quick-fix, so-called ‘miracles’, which never work (except on your pocket). In simple terms, it’s all about the amount of calories you put in versus the amount of calories you burn every day. Simple!Comment by SANDIE on 7 March 2010 at 4:46 pm
