New Prescription Drug combines an Antidepressant and Addiction Medication

What do you get when you combine an antidepressant with an addiction medication? Now, I know what you’re thinking and it’s not a Breaking Bad recipe—what you actually get is a safe, effective and Federal DrugAdministration (FDA) approved drug for losing weight.

Said drug is the combination of bupropion and naltrexone, an antidepressant and smoking cessation drug, and an alcohol and opiate dependence management drug respectively. Both drugs, aside from the basic medical purpose they serve, also have the side effect of weight loss. Bupropion, more specifically, does the opposite of what like drugs do (induce weight gain) and actually ably reduce a user’s weight by an average of 3kilograms in the span of 6 months to 1 year according to a 2013 study (Zhaoping Li, MD, PhD et al.).

The new medication that combines the two drugs has been tested with a 105% average difference in weight loss results versus regular commercial weight loss drugs. The 10-15 lb average weight loss that was projected by the latter was overwhelmed by prior’s 20-25 lb. average weight reduction count of a sample group who took the medication for a 56 week period.

Before said capsule can be release though, it shall first undergo more test as there has been observed side effects (albeit not a matter of immediate health risk) to ensure that the new drug is completely safe. As with the hindsight that Viagra has given, the FDA is thoroughly testing the drug for potential long term cardiovascular complications or side effects. The thesis is that the target of said drug will be an obese population thus the need to see if intake will react to obesity related complications such as heart disease, depression, high blood pressure and cholesterol, diabetes, and erectile dysfunction to name a few.

Today, the best option for long term weight loss is still bariatric surgery as it not only promotes long term if not permanent weight loss, it also reduces or eliminates chronic conditions and may also increase life span according to The Loyola  Center for Metabolic Surgery and Bariatric Clinic Director Bipan Chand, MD, FACS, FASMBS, FASGE.

With the world starting to have a greater population than obese individuals versus hungry ones, a drug such as the one described above is a good solution since bariatric surgery tends to be expensive but the world has to weight for the new found innovation.