A person who likes to criticize and doubt everything, to analyze and deny a lot of things may be not such a mean one after all, as criticism begets an increased mental activity: it encourages to think, test, and afford proofs. Doubting definitely has its advantages, especially in this controversial world, where everything has its pros and cons. Criticism fosters weighing of the benefits and risks, as well as makes us choose what is best for the human race future, which in the long run results in the continuation of the living on this planet.
One of the most controversial pills in the pharmaceutical science is the newest anti-obesity drug Acomplia, which is currently suspended from the official world market, but is still available illegally over the internet from the third-parties manufacturers. In view of the recent reports on this drug and all the story of its approval for the use in Europe with the following withdrawal from the stores, it is worthy to know the most important facts on the given medicine, taking into account its illegal presence.
Acomplia with its working ingredient rimonabant was allowed to be used as the complementary treatment of clinical obesity and overweight in European countries in June 2006. After two-year of availability, the drug was discovered to have such a rate of side effects that the benefits of its use did not overweigh the risks and adverse reactions incidence. Thus, in October 2008 the medication was withdrawn from the pharmacies in order to protect the lives of the patients.
The most dangerous and life-threatening side effect of Acomplia was the development of mental disorders in patients with excessive weight. Obesity is itself a significant burden on the mind of a sufferer. In combination with rimonabant activity in the central nervous system it caused irritability, depression (in up to 10% of patients), anxiety (about 6%), mood swings, sleep disorders and suicidal thoughts and intentions (in about 1% of patients). Some sources state that 5 deaths were associated with the use of this pill in Europe.
The incidence of these events is now traced to the possible impact of rimonabant on the brain receptors involved in the memory and learning, blockage of which is suggested to result in all the mentioned mental conditions.
In addition to those, Acomplia is nowadays thought to be able to affect and provoke the silent or underlying neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, multiple sclerosis and others. It was also found to increase the rates of forming plaques in the arteries, which would lead to hardening of their walls, known as atherosclerosis.
Scientists acknowledge that the central nervous system, just the place where Acomplia works, is so complex and not yet fully understood that the effect and consequences of the drug use cannot be predicted or anticipated.
Minor side effects of rimonabant were usually diarrhea, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, fainting and headache. These alone were said to have made 1 of 8 participants of the drug clinical trials to drop out of the studies, which was quite a high number.
In the clinical trials and during the short period when Acomplia was officially available in the European pharmacies, it was taken in 20 mg dose once daily. It was said that the lost weight was regained after the drug was discontinued. That means that only a long-term therapy was effective, which may trigger the development of unpredicted long-term side effects, unknown for the time being, because the active ingredient is new and poorly studied.
European two-year experience of prescribing Acomplia had proved the fears of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which members voted against the entrance of this drug on the country’s market in 2006, and justified their distrust in the safety and effectiveness data offered by Sanofi-Aventis – a French manufacturer of the “miracle-turned-evil” pill.
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