Acomplia (Rimonabant) is a new miraculous multifunctional diet pill.

According to a report published by the Journal of the American Medical Association:

• produces sustained weight loss
• helps to quit smoking
• improves blood makers
• improves high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and triglyceride levels

What is Acomplia?

• Acomplia (Rimonabant) is the first in a new class of therapeutic agents called Cannabinoid-1 Receptor Blockers (CB1).
• Acomplia is used in the treatment of obesity and related conditions.

How does Acomplia work?

• Acomplia acts by selectively blocking CB1 receptors found in the brain and in peripheral organs important in glucose and lipid (or fat) metabolism, including adipose tissue, the liver, gastrointestinal tract and muscle1.
• Acomplia switches off the same brain circuits that make people hungry when they smoke cannabis.
• CB1 receptor blockade with Acomplia acts to decrease the overactivity of the endocannabinoid system (EC system)2,3. The EC system is a recently characterised physiological system that includes receptors such as the CB1 receptor and it has been shown to play an important role in regulating body weight and in controlling energy balance, as well as glucose and lipid (or fat) metabolism.

What is Acomplia used for?

• Acomplia is used complementary to diet and exercise to treat obese or overweight patients who suffer from Type 2 diabetes and abnormal levels of fat in the blood.
• Sanofi argues that Acomplia can also prevent the risk of cardiovascular disease.
• Patients with large waist circumference (102 cm in men and 88 cm in women) will mostly benefit from taking the drug.

Does Acomplia also aid smoking cessation?

• Acomplia has been studied by sanofi-aventis as an aid to smoking cessation based on studies for up to one year in over 6,500 smokers motivated to quit smoking.
• Sanofi-aventis submitted a New Drug Application to the FDA, which in turn issued a non approvable letter for Acomplia for use in smoking cessation. An approvable letter was however issued for Acomplia for use in weight management.

Acomplia has just been approved in the European Union. Is Acomplia approved in the United States?

• No. Sanofi is still awaiting U.S. marketing go-ahead which it has said could come by the end of this year.
• U.S. health authorities have asked Sanofi for more information on Acomplia.
• Acomplia received European Union marketing approval in June 2006.
• The first launch will take place in Britain in July and be followed by launches in Denmark, Ireland, Germany, Finland and Norway in the second half of this year, according to Sanofi.

What were the results of Acomplia Clinical trial studies?

• In clinical studies, Acomplia has been shown to improve a wide array of cardiometabolic risk factors as well as promoting sustained weight loss4,5.
• Approximately half of the observed improvement in HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides and HbA1C (an indicator of blood sugar control) in patients who received Acomplia 20mg was beyond that expected from weight loss alone.

What are the side-effects of Acomplia?

• Side effects in the trial on Acomplia in obesity were vomiting and nausea, forcing about 19 percent of patients to leave the trial versus 13 percent of those who took placebo.

What is the shelf life of the pills?

• The expiry date is mentioned on each blister. It is different for different batches. The shelf life is 2 years from the date of manufacture and would differ from batch to batch depending on when they were manufactured.

Other Useful Information:

Radiation: 1. Rays of energy. Gamma rays and X-rays are two of the types of energy waves often used in medicine. 2. The use of energy waves to diagnose or treat disease.

Replantation: 1. Literally, the act of planting again. 2. In surgery, the restoration of any part of the body to its original site. Also known as reimplantation.

The Chinese surgeon Zhong Wei Chen (1929-2004) was the "father of replantation." Dr. Chen was the first to reattach a severed hand with success which he did in 1963. Dr. Chen also developed many microsurgical procedures including techniques for preserving severed extremities, reattaching amputated fingers and thumbs, reconstructing muscles and repairing nerves and blood vessels.

Rheumatism: Rheumatism is an older term, used to describe any of a number of painful conditions of muscles, tendons, joints, and bones.

Rheumatism conditions have been classified as either localized, regional, or generalized. Localized rheumatism conditions include bursitis and tendinitis. Regional rheumatism conditions include chest wall pain, temporomandibular joint pain, and myofascial pain syndromes. Generalized rheumatism conditions include fibromyalgia.

Another category of rheumatism is psychogenic rheumatism. With this term it is understood that the patient is reporting inconsistent pains of muscles and joints that do not correspond to true anatomy and physiology. The patient is felt to have underlying psychological causes for the symptoms.

Rheumatology: A subspecialty of internal medicine that involves the non-surgical evaluation and treatment of the rheumatic diseases and conditions. Rheumatic diseases and conditions are characterized by symptoms involving the musculoskeletal system. Many of the rheumatic diseases and conditions feature immune system abnormalities. Therefore, rheumatology also involves the study of the immune system. Classical rheumatology training includes 4 years of medical school, 1 year of internship in internal medicine, 2 years of internal medicine residency, and 2 years of rheumatology fellowship. There is a subspecialty board for rheumatology certification. The American College of Rheumatology is the official organization acting on behalf of the field of rheumatology in the United States.

T cell: A type of white blood cell that is of key importance to the immune system and is at the core of adaptive immunity, the system that tailors the body's immune response to specific pathogens. The T cells are like soldiers who search out and destroy the targeted invaders.

Immature T cells (termed T-stem cells) migrate to the thymus gland in the neck, where they mature and differentiate into various types of mature T cells and become active in the immune system in response to a hormone called thymosin and other factors. T-cells that are potentially activated against the body's own tissues are normally killed or changed ("down-regulated") during this maturational process.

There are several different types of mature T cells. Not all of their functions are known. T cells can produce substances called cytokines such as the interleukins which further stimulate the immune response. T-cell activation is measured as a way to assess the health of patients with HIV/AIDS and less frequently in other disorders.

T cell are also known as T lymphocytes. The "T" stands for "thymus" -- the organ in which these cells mature. As opposed to B cells which mature in the bone marrow.

Teleology: The study of the ultimate purpose of the design of something in nature.

For example, "what is the true purpose of the nose?" is a teleological question and, to say that all evolutionary changes occur for a definite purpose is a teleological explanation of evolution.

"Teleology" comes from ancient Greek roots but it (and teleological) did not enter English until the 18th century. It is a compound of the Greek "tele-, telos," meaning "end or purpose" + the ending "logos" meaning "the science or study of" = the study of the ends or purposes.

Testosterone: A "male hormone" -- a sex hormone produced by the testes that encourages the development of male sexual characteristics, stimulates the activity of the male secondary sex characteristics, and prevents changes in them following castration. Chemically, testosterone is 17-beta-hydroxy-4-androstene-3-one.

Testosterone is the most potent of the naturally occurring androgens. The androgens cause the development of male sex characteristics, such as a deep voice and a beard; they also strengthen muscle tone and bone mass.

High levels of testosterone appear to promote good health in men, for example, lowering the risks of high blood pressure and heart attack. High testosterone levels also correlate with risky behavior, however, including increased aggressiveness and smoking, which may cancel out these health benefits.

Testosterone may be given to treat medical conditions, including female (but not male) breast cancer, hypogonadism (low gonadal function) in the male, cryptorchism (nondescent of the testis into the scrotum), and menorrhagia (irregular periods).