Posted on 03/03/2006 1:06:54 AM PST by neverdem
The users call the drug Lizzie, the Big Brother or sometimes Gilly. On blogs they rave over its uncanny ability to melt away pounds, although some are wary of its side effects, which can include nausea and strange welts.
The users are not fad dieters or methamphetamine addicts, but people with diabetes. And the subject of their rhapsodies is not a gray-market diet pill sold on late-night television but Byetta, a federally approved diabetes medicine, available only by prescription, whose popularity and sales have soared since its introduction last June.
For diabetics, the weight loss caused by Byetta comes as a welcome contrast to the weight gain that often accompanies insulin and other diabetes medicines; the extra pounds can eventually worsen the disease. Some patients say Byetta has reversed the course of a disease that can lead to severe complications like amputations, blindness and kidney failure and even death.
"I went from despair to life — no hope to lots of hope," said the Rev. John L. Dodson, a 73-year-old pastor in Felton, Calif. Mr. Dodson, 5 feet 6 inches tall, says he has lost almost 60 pounds since starting Byetta last June and now weighs 178, his lowest weight since college.
The drug seems so effective for weight loss that some nondiabetics have begun using Byetta as a diet drug — causing concern among doctors who say such use has not been medically tested and could be dangerous.
But for diabetics, weight loss from Byetta could be a particularly important benefit. Among the 21 million Americans with diabetes, about 90 percent have Type 2, which usually occurs in adulthood and has been linked to obesity and inactivity.
Byetta is not a cure-all, doctors caution. Some patients cannot tolerate its side effects. And it has never been studied as a...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I know Atkins is onto this. Others have also included this principle. Ouilette (sp?) maybe South Beach too.
I have type 2 diabetes, this is interesting, but I will wait to see what else comes from this.
I have been eating 1/3 less food and walking uphill for more than half a year but drinking diet Rock Star and my newly diagnosed Diabetes is in remission now for 5 months.
I think lifestyle changes and new interests helped the most but I Keep on Party ing like a ROCK STAR. energy drink that is.
Taking up some new classes/seminars that require critical thinking burns calories too> I am certain.
bfl
bookmark
ping
Good one.
Total, absolute BS.
Just read The Ph Mircle, by Dr, Robert Young and you will see the errors and how this problem can and is solved.
Easy to do on a treadmill.
When I was diagnosed with Type 2 ten years ago, I went on metformin (glucophage), but came off after about six months. I stayed off meds for about 2 years, but eventually was on 5 different oral meds before I was forced to start using insulin last December. If you can do it, stay diet controlled - it's a drag giving myself 4 shots a day!
This story glosses over the side effects seen with Byetta (of course).
It commonly causes a slowdown of the digestive track so severe that intestinal contents start to ferment and cause extrememly uncomfortable bloating and flatulence. According to my discussion with a local enocrinologist, this occurs in approx. 10% of his patients.
Its a great medication for those who can tolerate it but, as usual, its not for everyone.
Your "Total, absolute BS" comment sounds like BS. Even if what Dr. Young has to say is valuable, that doesn't mean that this medicine is good, bad or neither.
later
Are you related to Sisyphus?
Thanks for this post. Sent it to my daughter and two friends.
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