Despite Blood Pressure Concerns, Obesity Drug Appears Safe
Despite Blood Pressure Concerns, Obesity Drug Appears Safe
July 24, 2000 -- Despite warnings that it can increase blood pressure and heart rate, an appetite-controlling drug called Meridia can be safe for overweight people frustrated by their inability to take off the pounds, a new study shows.
Because Meridia carried the warnings about heart rate and blood pressure when it came on the market, doctors are careful about using the weight-loss drug in people with high blood pressure. But these are the patients who stand to benefit most from the drug, since weight loss itself can lower blood pressure.
A balanced perspective is in order, several obesity experts say. Though weight loss drugs such as Meridia and Xenical don't make the pounds melt away, they may help make weight loss more manageable, if accompanied by exercise and changes in food choices.
When overweight patients with high blood pressure that was controlled by medication took Meridia, their blood pressures and pulse rates did increase, according to a study published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine. But those patients also lost more weight than did a similar group taking a placebo. In addition, the patients taking Meridia saw an increase in their levels of HDL, or "good" cholesterol, and a decrease in another type of blood fat known as triglycerides.
Meridia was found to be just as effective in black people as in whites. This finding is important because obesity is more common in the black community, and because black patients are more likely to have high blood pressure.
"Meridia "does raise blood pressure and pulse rate somewhat. The consequences of these increases are unknown, but on the surface, not alarming," study author F. Gilbert McMahon, MD, tells WebMD. "However ... people taking [Meridia] for a long time should have [their] physician monitor blood pressure and pulse at regular intervals." McMahon is an internal medicine physician with a background in hypertension and endocrinology; he is primarily a clinical researcher on new drugs with the Clinical Research Center in New Orleans.
Of the 212 participants who completed the one-year study, those taking Meridia had an average 2 point rise in their diastolic pressure (the lower number of a blood pressure reading) while the placebo group had a drop in diastolic pressure of 1-2 points. Of those patients who lost 5%-10% of their body weight during the study, there were significantly more among the group taking Meridia than among those taking the placebo.
Despite Blood Pressure Concerns, Obesity Drug Appears Safe
Because Meridia carried the warnings about heart rate and blood pressure when it came on the market, doctors are careful about using the weight-loss drug in people with high blood pressure. But these are the patients who stand to benefit most from the drug, since weight loss itself can lower blood pressure.
A balanced perspective is in order, several obesity experts say. Though weight loss drugs such as Meridia and Xenical don't make the pounds melt away, they may help make weight loss more manageable, if accompanied by exercise and changes in food choices.
When overweight patients with high blood pressure that was controlled by medication took Meridia, their blood pressures and pulse rates did increase, according to a study published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine. But those patients also lost more weight than did a similar group taking a placebo. In addition, the patients taking Meridia saw an increase in their levels of HDL, or "good" cholesterol, and a decrease in another type of blood fat known as triglycerides.
Meridia was found to be just as effective in black people as in whites. This finding is important because obesity is more common in the black community, and because black patients are more likely to have high blood pressure.
"Meridia "does raise blood pressure and pulse rate somewhat. The consequences of these increases are unknown, but on the surface, not alarming," study author F. Gilbert McMahon, MD, tells WebMD. "However ... people taking [Meridia] for a long time should have [their] physician monitor blood pressure and pulse at regular intervals." McMahon is an internal medicine physician with a background in hypertension and endocrinology; he is primarily a clinical researcher on new drugs with the Clinical Research Center in New Orleans.
Of the 212 participants who completed the one-year study, those taking Meridia had an average 2 point rise in their diastolic pressure (the lower number of a blood pressure reading) while the placebo group had a drop in diastolic pressure of 1-2 points. Of those patients who lost 5%-10% of their body weight during the study, there were significantly more among the group taking Meridia than among those taking the placebo.
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