Sold under different brand names, orlistat is a prescription drug designed to treat obesity and overweight. Among the most common brand names are Alli by GlaxoSmithKline and Xenical by Roche. It is also known as tetrahydrolipstatin made from saturating lipstatin which is a natural inhibitor against pancreatic lipases. This lipstatin is isolated from a strain of bacteria called Streptomyces toxytricini.
How does Orlistat work? Before delving into this, it is important to note that its use needs to be coupled with a reduced-calorie diet in order to be effective. Generally, the drug aims at preventing the fat in foods taken from being absorbed into the body. It is left in the digestive tract rather than being absorbed in the blood stream. From the gut, it is removed from the body as fecal matter.
In the normal digestion process, fats are absorbed when gastric enzymes produced in the stomach and pancreatic enzymes produced in the pancreas break down triglycerides in the small intestines. Orlistat acts as an inhibitor to the action of these enzymes blocking their action on triglycerides from food. The fat taken in the body remains in its natural and unabsorbable state without hydrolysis into absorbable fat.
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Orlistat is administered orally and portrays low bioavailabilty, that is, the amounts that reach the systemic blood are quite low. It acts in the gastro-intestinal tract and is eliminated in stool alongside the unabsorbed fats. The standard prescription dose is 120mg taken three times a day and this has been proven to reduce fat absorption by about 30% whereas over-the-counter dose is 60mg which has been proven to achieve similar results with an effectiveness of about 25%. When there is no fat in the meal taken or when one skips a meal, there is no need to take the pill.
So how does reduced fat absorption help in dealing with obesity and being overweight? Many at times, these conditions result from excessive fat being stored beneath the skin due to too much absorption, when this is reversed the effects on the weight are direct. By preventing a third of the fat component in food from being absorbed, it means that you are taking in fewer calories. With this reduced uptake, no more fat deposits will be added to the body. At the same time, reduced uptake of fats will be interpreted as a starvation period by the body. The stored fats will then be broken down to produce energy. With a reduction in these deposits comes visible weight loss. It has been proven in clinical studies that when taken with each main meal, it results in consistent weight loss. This has offered relief for many obese persons for whom weight loss through other methods seems to be giving unreliable results. Coupled with the right diet, it increases the chances of getting desirable results by up to 50%.
Summing up, orlistat is a drug used in treating obesity and overweight issues. It acts by preventing th absorption of fats in the gut and introducing them into the body where they would otherwise pose health risks. It has been proven to be effective and delivers what it promises.
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