Cancer Treatment Beneficial for Weight Loss

There may be a new form of obesity treatment emerging out of the medical field, according to recent research. A form of cancer treatment called adipotide may be able to help enhance weight loss in ways that previous diet medications have been unable to. This is reported by researchers at the Anderson Cancer Center in Houston who have been conducting weight loss trials with the drug on primates.

Unlike other forms of weight loss medications, adipotide works by physically killing fat cells in the body. It does this by eliminating the blood supply to the fat cells, thereby robbing them of their nourishment. The medication was successful at helping the obese primates shed pounds quickly. After only four weeks of treatment the overweight female primates had lost an average of 11% of their body fat in addition to shedding 39% of their fat deposits. The benefits of the treatment continued for several weeks after the medication was withdrawn.

There is a great deal of research that still needs to be completed before adipotide will be ready to help people lose weight, but the current results are positive. The primates that underwent the weight loss treatment program did not experience any nausea or dietary limitations that are present after forms of bariatric surgery that promote rapid weight loss. Without physically altering the digestive tract of the primates, the adipotide medication was able to help them begin to eat less and burn fat.

While this medication is promising, it is not yet available to help overweight patients that are looking for rapid weight loss methods. Even with this form of treatment, following healthy dietary habits and increasing levels of physical activity is important to ensuring that the weight stays off long term.