Comparison of Weight Losses With Three Reducing Regimens—diet Therapy, Phenmetrazine, and an Amphetamine Combination (Obetrol)

Abstract

The pattern of compulsive eating is strikingly similar to that of dipsomania. The majority of patients who lose weight will regain it within a year, and 40 per cent will attain or exceed their previous weight in spite of good intentions and ordinary therapy (1). For this reason i t is desirable to conduct a follow-up study of any reducing regimen, to determine the long-term as well as the immediate results.I n the present investigation the procedure included intensive treatment for a period of ten weeks with follow-up for six months, nine months or one year. The purpose was to determine to what extent the new dietary habits begun during the ten-week period had succeeded in re-educating the patient regarding his weight-control problem. REGIMENS-DIET THERAPY, PHENMETRAZINE, AND AN DIETRigid menus and calorie tables impose a serious hardship and inconvenience which often result in complete abandonment of the reducing program. Therefore we have instituted a program of nutritional counseling designed to provide a high-protein, low-carbohydrate type of diet in a form that will be satisfactory to the individual patient.First, the subject is asked to record her actual diet for one week. This diet is then reviewed and modified in order to reduce the excessive amounts of carbohydrates and replace them with as much protein as possible. I n addition, fresh fruits and vegetables are substituted for high caloried food of poorer nutritional value (2).The generally accepted dietary plan for control of obesity provides a liberal allowance of protein because of its high satiety value, specific dynamic action, and importance in protecting tissue and building muscles. The fat intake should be minimal, restricted primarily to the eggs and meat necessarily included in the increased protein ratio. The carbohydrates should be limited chiefly to the low-carbohydrate bulky fruits and vegetables (3).Storage of fat in the body cannot take place unless glucose is being metabolized. There is a close relationship between the metabolism of carbohydrate (glucose) and the synthesis of both fatty acids and triglyceride or neutral fat. This link is mediated through 3 main channels as follows:1. Glycolysis, which is the main source of pyruvic acid and acetyl CoA, from which fatty acids are synthesized.2. Oxidation of glucose by the pentose pathway or the hexose monophosphate shunt; this generates the cofactor-reduced triphosphopyridine nucleo-623

Pharmacology of methylphenidate, amphetamine enantiomers and pemoline in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

“…Adderall 1 , previously marketed in the US as the anorectic product Obetrol 1 (Berman and Anderson, 1966), may broadly be considered a combination product in that it is the only amphetamine formulation also containing levoamphetamine (but as a minor component). Each tablet contains an equal weight of the following salts: dextroamphetamine saccharate, dextroamphetamine sulfate, racemic amphetamine aspartate and racemic amphetamine sulfate.…”

“…Side-eects associated with levoamphetamine component of this mixture, as with dextroamphetamine (see above), are generally sympathomimetic in nature. An earlier study assessing the mixed amphetamine salt as an anorectic in adults indicated that moderate irritability, nervousness, and insomnia may occur (Berman and Anderson, 1966).…”