Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Contrave - FDA Approved Weight Loss Pill


Contrave is one of the newest FDA approved weight loss pills on the market. It was proven to have helped patients lose more weight than those given a placebo in clinical trials involving 4,500 overweight and obese people.

Who Can Use Contrave?

Contrave is for adults with a body mass index of 27 or 27+; as long as they also suffer from at least one other weight-related condition like high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes or high cholesterol. People with a BMI of 30 or above can be prescribed the drug without having other compounding conditions. It has intended to be used as part of a health regimen that includes diet and exercise.


How Does Contrave Work?

It is formed from two component drugs — naltrexone and bupropion. Naltrexone treats alcohol and opiate addiction while bupropion treats depression and seasonal effective disorders and is used to help smokers quit. How the combination works for weight loss is not completely understood. The bupropion helps lessen appetite. The naltrexone probably works by blocking certain receptors in the brain and curbing cravings.

Side Effects Of Contrave

The FDA notes that because it contains an anti-depressant, there are risks of increased suicidal thoughts that are usually found with those types of drugs. Contrave can also cause seizures, or raise blood pressure and heart rates. Therefore, people with a history of seizures and/or who have uncontrolled high blood pressure should not take it.

Those using it at the maintenance dose should be evaluated after 12 weeks to determine if the treatment is working. If the weight loss is not at least 5% of initial weight, the drug should be stopped.

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