[MERGED] Xenical

[Ira]

It's a good drug, but very much abused. Mercury price is around P40++ a pill (if you're lucky enough to find stocks), while black market price could go as high up as P65 a pill. I called up Roche, the local distributor, because one of our patients needed Orlistat, but unfortunately, high-ranking government officials have already reserved the Roche stocks to give to their friends, so those who should have access to it are on the losing end. You should get a doctor's go-signal before starting yourself on this. Abuse of this pill can cause a lot of side effects.

[bunny]

Okay...this pill(?) is supposed to make you lose weight by taking it after every meal. In effect, you're going to be like running to the bathroom every so often to take a crap. Sometimes pa daw, you'll see the oil in your pants because it leaks.

Xenical's so sikat these days that even our beloved(?) president has admitted to taking it...share your thoughts!

[bunny]

Dont worry Ira i'm not planning on taking Xenical...just curious...a lot of people are sensationalizing it kasi eh...just like what happened to the Bangkok pills. My uncle has been taking it and my mom has been planning on giving it a try. My sister's friend sells it for 900 bucks...that's 21 pieces na...good for a month ata.

[Ira]

I cannot imagine anyone less likely to need Xenical and Bangkok Pills than you, Bunny.

[MO]

oil spill
napkins
business opportunity
cosmetics
ugh! vanity talaga!
hahahah

[bunny]

WOW Ira I'm so flattered!!!

[MsEerie]

bunny: how could i get in touch with your sister's friend re: bangkok pills?

[archangel]

I read the literature on Xenical and it's supposed to prevent the absorption of fat in your body that's why you'll keep on running to the bathroom to defecate and it also causes steatorrhea (fats in the feces). But do we really need it? We must remember that proteins and carbohydrates also supply calories and any excess cause a gain in weight. And Xenical is supposed to be used by patients for therapeutic purposes. As what i have said, Xenical's action is to prevent the absorption fats by the body, in the first place you don't need an excess of fat intake in your diet.

[bunny]

MsEerie I'll ask my sister her friend's contact no. I'll post it here or email you when i have it na, ok?

[Ira]

archangel: You still need to have fat intake. Prolonged consumption of high-carbohydrate or fat-free diets causes an increase in acetyl CoA carboxylase synthesis, which will act as a positive stimulus for increased conversion of proteins to fatty acid, so your lipid levels will rise higher than when you just took in the right amount of fat in your diet in the first place. That's why Xenical only prevents absorption of a certain percentage of fat in your diet, NOT all fat. And, of course, vitamins A, D, E and K need dietary fat to be absorbed by your GIT.

[This message has been edited by Ira (edited 12-09-1999).]

[archangel]

Thanks Ira for the added info.

[kmunster]

ok here's the story, i have a paper due on Jan 20 regarding the anti-obesity pill Xenical (orlistat is its generic name)...so far all i've found are places where i can buy xenical. that's not what i need. i need the science behind the drug. so if u have time pls pls pls post some links that'll help me with my paper. (note : i'm not cramming! it's just that i've been looking for a month now and i haven't found anything that's worth including in my paper.)

i've already looked in www.xenical.com (unfortunately i can't copy paste it coz this is a major paper and my teachers are pretty strict with plagiarism i.e. it can get me expelled.

if u have any scientific info on the drug pls post them also.

thanks in advance!

[Ira]

I won't spoonfeed you, kasi homework mo yan... but here are some medical search engines and directories that will surely help:
http://n103dept.milwaukee.tec.wi.us/...y/med_sear.htm http://www.mwsearch.com http://user.iworld.net/medmark /

Good luck.

[batang uliran]

kmunster:

Your questions about orlistat prompted me to look it up and what I have in my hands is a comprehensive review article on anything you ever wanted to know about orlistat. As Ira said, spoon feeding would be wrong but I'll help a bit

Orlistat is a hydrogenated derivative of lipostatin which is a natural product of the bacteria streptomyces toxytricini. The way it works is it is a potent inhibitor of gastric and pancreatic lipases. You see, dietary fat (triacylglycerols) must be hydrolysed by these enzymes (lipases) to free fatty acid monomers and monoacylgycerols in order to be absorped into the body. The net result of taking the drug is that fat absorption is reduced by 30%.

Other things:

Dose: 120mg 3 times daily with meals.

What has it been shown to do? It has been able to effect:

1. 8 to 10% weight reduction over a year in obese non-diabetic patients who took the drug together with a low calorie diet.

2. A more modest 6% weight reduction in obese diabetics.

3. Also shown to be better than placebo when combined with normocaloric diets.

4. Improves lipid profile in non-diabetics reducing levels of total cholesterol and LDL.

5. Better blood sugar control in diabetics resulting in lower doses of antidiabetic drugs.

Relatively well tolerated with the main adverse effects related to fat malabsorption: oily stool, diarrhea, and lots of flatus.

If I were in Manila and If I wanted to spoonfeed you I would fax you the whole 20 page review article but the stuff above should be more than enough to get you started.

[kmunster]

thanks talaga Ira and batang uliran! dagdag ko kayong dalawa sa acknowledgements ng paper ko

batang uliran : where did u get the comprehensive review article re orlistat? i'll try to look for it here

[batang uliran]

It's from a journal called Drugs Oct. 1999 58(4) pp. 743-760
If you can't find it and have specific questions about the drug, I may be able to help you further.

[kmunster]

batang uliran : does Drugs have a website? i'm not sure if the lib has it so i'm trying to look for it online. does the article state something about how orlistat is synthesized? i've been trying to look for it in different books, journals, and webpages but i've found none. and does it have a complete text re the mechanism? ito kasi yung pinakamahirap hanapin eh (sorry for the inconveniece)

[batang uliran]

It seems that most of the info you are looking for is contained in the www.xenical.com site. Enter under the Health Care Provider selection in the main page and then click on the selection "Complete Product Information" on the left hand side.

The primary resource for the questions you ask - synthesis and detailed mechanism of action are primarily available from Roche which is the company that makes the drug and so I think it is acceptable to cite the info in the web site which is probably the same stuff cited in the package insert and in the Physician's Desk Reference for Drugs. The other place you can find it is in any recent major pharmacology textbook or Drug Compendium. One thought is to go to the Roche office in Manila and I'm sure they have al the references for you there.

[kmunster]

k thanks a lot!

[Yoshi]

kmunster: Rosby did a Biochem paper on orlistat. You may want to check it out kay Ma'am Rojas. Siya ba mentor mo?