OBESITY DRUGSTevin Watters

EFFECTS

agitation, excitability, irritability, nervousness, or restlessness

dizziness, lightheadedness, or fainting spells

mood swings or other mental changes numbness or tingling in the hands, feet

or arms

STREET NAMES

There is a wide range of drugs that can be used to treat obesity. Some of them include Adderall, Dexedrine, Ritalin, coke, crack, and crank.

INGREDIANTS

Sumatriptan Succinate is the most active ingrediant in most weight loss drugs.

WITHDRAWL SYMPTOMS

Effective obesity drugs have proven enormously difficult to develop. The brain circuits responsible for appetite overlap with those that control other important functions, including mood, raising the risk of side effects.

ORIGIN

The limitation of drugs for obesity is that we do not fully understand the neural basis of appetite and how to modulate it. Appetite is clearly a very important instinct to promote survival. Arguably any drug that would abolish appetite may carry a high mortality risk and may be unsuitable

for clinical use.

COST

The estimates of the total economic cost of obesity is currently about $117 billion per year in the United States, which includes more than $50 billion in avoidable medical costs.

STATISTICS

During the past 20 years there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the U.S. In 2009, only one state had a prevalence of obesity less than 20%.

Thirty-three states had a prevalence equal to or greater than 25%; nine of these states (Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee) had a prevalence of obesity greater than 30%.