From: caf@omen.UUCP (Chuck Forsberg)
Subject: Re: Weight Loss with Dexfenfluramine
Organization: Omen Technology INC, Portland Rain Forest
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 11:13:40 GMT

In article <1992Nov10.183118.24619@spdcc.com> dyer@spdcc.com (Steve Dyer) writes:
>In article <1992Nov10.114830.12448@omen.UUCP> caf@omen.UUCP (Chuck Forsberg) writes:
>>>>regain.  As the Weintraub study (discussed in Adiposity 101)
>>>>showed, most dieters regain weight even when they do not go off
>>>>their diets.
>>>Hmmm.  I read the study and didn't get that.  Most dieters
>>>regain because they can't stay on the diet forever.  The
>>>drug allows them to do that.  Also, Weintraub's patients
>>>did regain some, just not as much as those without the drug.
>>
>>I do believe the quote (p. 618) supports my contention more than Gordon's:
>
>My understanding of the study is the same as Gordon's.
>
>>	Overall, the data from the this phase of the long term weight
>>	control study reflect what has been commonly known about
>>	cessation of weight control interventions in animals and humans;
>        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>I guess you missed this phrase, Chuck, eh?
>
>>	that is, that weight will return toward its baseline level
>>	whenever a previously instituted perturbation (such as diet,
>>	exercise, modified protein fast, behavior modification, or jaw
						   *********
>>	wiring) has been completed.  In this case, continued diet,
						   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
						   *********
>>	exercise, and behavior modification also did not help the
	^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>	subjects to avoid regaining lost weight.
	^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I guess you missed the main point, Dave, eh?

>>	Unfortunately, a lack of understanding of both the natural
>>	history of obesity and its diversity adds to the pejorative view
>>	of obese people and of anorexiants.  Some health professionals
>>	are not aware of data concerning mechanisms present in the human
>>	organism that act to countervene perturbations in body weight
>>	and that may account for the apparent failure of interventions,
>>	including medications.
>
>You seem to have a gift for reading between the lines.  Why not tell us
>that you think it says rather than have us try to read your mind?

In the vernacular: some "health professionals" view obesity on
the basis of their moral prejudices instead of current knowledge
of the relevant biology, in the same sense that some of the
Religious Right view AIDS primarily as a consequence of wrongdoing.

"apparent failure" is a reference to the common thought that
antiobesity treatments are failures because they do not cure
obesity in the same sense that a mastectomy cures breast cancer.
(This may not apply to CoPP treatment.)

But the paper considers obesity as a chronic illness which
recurs when treatment is withdrawn, as is the case with current
hypertension treatments.  The study shows:

1.  Weight lost on a state of the art diet/exercise program recurs,
even when the program is adhered to, and:

2.  The drug combination suppresses weight as long as it is used.

-- 
Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX          ...!tektronix!reed!omen!caf 
Author of YMODEM, ZMODEM, Professional-YAM, ZCOMM, and DSZ
  Omen Technology Inc    "The High Reliability Software"
17505-V NW Sauvie IS RD   Portland OR 97231   503-621-3406
Newsgroups: sci.med