Anti-Obesity Prescriptions Pass The Million Mark, UK

More than a million prescriptions for anti-obesity drugs are dispensed to patients each year at an annual cost of £47.5 million, according to the NHS Information Centre for health and social care (IC).

The number of prescriptions is more than eight times of that handed out nine years ago, and two drugs - orlistat (Xenical) and sibutramine (Reductil) - make up the bulk of the prescriptions issued by GPs in England.

Sibutramine works by altering chemical messages to the brain that control feelings about food, and orlistat prevents some fat absorption.

The NHS also said that more than one in five men and nearly one in four women are now at very high risk of developing health problems, based on waist circumference and body mass index (BMI).

Exercise and healthy diet


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Putting on Pedometer Helps Walkers Shed Pounds

Just by strapping on a step-counting pedometer, overweight or obese "couch potatoes" who start a daily walking regimen can expect to lose at least a modest amount of weight -- even in the absence of any special diet, new research reveals.

The review of data from nine studies found that patients who used a pedometer to track and motivate their walking achieved a loss of about a pound every 10 weeks.

"The main point is that pedometer-based walking programs are effective at getting people to walk more, and they do result in a modest amount of weight loss," said study lead author Dr. Caroline R. Richardson, an assistant professor in the department of family medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor.

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