Xenical owes part of its popularity to the fact that there just aren’t that many weight loss drugs available. Additionally, how it works is well-understood, and for people committed to eating a low-fat diet, it is effective in helping with weight loss.
Xenical is the brand name for the prescription drug orlistat. Approved in 1999, Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche’s Xenical quickly amassed impressive sales, reaching a peak of $600 million in sales in 2001.
By 2004, sales had dropped back to between $400 and $500 million, but even in 2013, Xenical is the most widely-used drug to treat obesity. With few new weight loss drugs in the pipeline, and problems with the few that have come on the market, Xenical has managed to maintain its place at the top of the charts.
Orlistat is also available in an over-the-counter formulation sold by GlaxoSmithKline under the name Alli, which is half the dosage (60 mg) of prescription orlistat (120 mg).
Alli has annual sales of around $100 million. Orlistat is currently the only anti-obesity drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for long-term use. Worldwide, 40 million people use orlistat in prescription or over-the-counter form.
How Xenical Works
Xenical reduces the amount of fat absorbed by the body. Lipase is a pancreatic enzyme that digests fat in the intestines, and Xenical blocks the action of this enzyme. The result is that less fat is absorbed from food, making weight loss easier.
The major drawback of Xenical (and other forms of orlistat, including over-the-counter formulations) is that the undigested fat can cause unpleasant side effects like excess gas and diarrhea, so people who try the drug need to take time to understand exactly how it affects their daily life and adjust their diet and activities accordingly. But millions of people take Xenical simply because it works.
Why Xenical Is So Effective
One of the reasons Xenical is so effective is that it basically forces the person taking it into consuming a low-fat diet, because the more fat in the diet, the worse the gastrointestinal side effects are. Basically, if a person wants to lose weight on Xenical and have an active social life, he or she needs to cut a significant amount of fat from the diet, which reduces caloric intake. When the number of calories taken in is less than the number of calories expended, the net effect is loss of weight. Xenical isn’t an appetite suppressant, and doesn’t speed up metabolism.
Why Xenical Is the Most Used Obesity Drug
The three reasons Xenical is the most widely used obesity drug are
- It works
- It’s affordable (The Alli 30-day “starter kit” costs around $50 and doesn’t require a prescription.)
- There aren’t many other options available.
A new prescription weight loss drug called Belviq is now available. It’s an appetite suppressant with side effects that include dizziness, fatigue, and constipation. It’s expensive, has to be taken indefinitely, and the average weight loss over the course of a year is only about 3.7% of a person’s total body weight.
Another new drug, Qsymia (pronounced kyoo-sim-EE-uh), contains an appetite suppressant and an anticonvulsant. It’s approved as a prescription drug for patients with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more, or those with a BMI of 27 or greater if they have one or more weight-related complications, like high cholesterol or diabetes. Pregnant women and those at risk of cardiovascular disease shouldn’t take Qsymia because it can cause birth defects and can increase heart rate and blood pressure. It’s also not for the person who just wants to lose 10 pounds before going on vacation.
Xenical isn’t the perfect weight loss drug, but it does work, and is likely to remain a big seller, particularly in the absence of better alternatives. People who want to take Xenical (or orlistat in any of its formulations) should speak with their physician and make an informed choice, understanding at the outset what the drug’s limitations and side effects are.
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