Word: diets
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Stories like Dorsett's have become increasingly common over the past several months. People are dropping 20 lbs. or more in a matter of weeks. And it's not through willpower or exotic diets or Olympian exercise routines, but largely because, for the first time in their lives, they have simply lost interest in eating. The reason for this astonishing transformation: Redux, approved by the FDA last April as the first new diet drug in the U.S. in 23 years...
...buzz. Word of mouth is big in some circles in Southern California, for example, where washboard abs and buns of steel are practically residency requirements. National weight-loss clinics, including Jenny Craig and Nutri/System, are scrambling to work Redux into their programs. Last week Sheldon Levine, a New Jersey diet doctor, began a high-profile nationwide publicity campaign to flog his new book, The Redux Revolution (Morrow; $20), a 222-page paean to what is being promoted as "the most important weight-loss discovery of the century...
...merely overweight, though, Redux probably poses an unacceptable danger. While the drug is intended to be taken only by the clinically obese for a limited time, in conjunction with an ongoing diet and exercise program, there is no guarantee that this scenario will be followed. Predicts David Nichols, a Purdue University pharmacologist: "This drug will ultimately be overprescribed by every bumpkin doctor who has patients who perceive themselves to be slightly overweight...
...went off it for a few days, it was almost like going off amphetamines." Moore had obtained the drug at a weight-loss clinic whose presiding doctor was rarely available to talk to patients. Such problems could be more widespread with Redux, which will be marketed not only to diet specialists but also to general practitioners--and the general public...
...from the hulls of oats, corn and soybeans. If it is remotely palatable, it is sure to sell. History suggests, however, that it won't make much difference. Despite the arrival of Olestra last winter, despite NutraSweet and 1% milk, despite an estimated $33 billion spent every year on diet books, over-the-counter medications, health-club memberships and low-calorie foods, the flab still remains, entrenched solidly on waists, hips and thighs. News of a truly effective weight-loss drug will have people beating down doctors' doors, despite the worrisome side effects...