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Lorcaserin is a New Weight Loss Drug- Hip-Hip Hooray!
By: Scottsdale Weight Loss Center
Published: June 25, 2012
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In the next month, if you hear cheers coming from your local weight loss doctor (now known as an obesity medicine physician) and large smiles coming from the center’s patients, it is because we are preparing to have 2 NEW drugs approved for use in weight loss. It’s about time! The first new weight loss drug will be Lorcaserin and later next month if all goes well, Qnexa, a combination of phentermine and topiramate.
Lorcaserin, when and if approved for weight loss, will be brought to market by Arena Pharmaceuticals which is based in San Diego. The last obesity drug, xenical and its half-dose brother Alli were approved in 1999, over 13 years ago and are now both over the counter. The previous drug approved 2 years before that, was sibutramine (Meridia) and has been since taken off the market. With over two-thirds of our society now overweight and about 30 percent with obesity, new weight loss drugs have been long overdue!
Lorcaserin is a unique drug; it’s the first weight loss drug to work by specifically targeting 5-HT2c central nervous system (brain) serotonin receptors. These receptors when triggered promote fullness or satiety. Thought of potentially as a safe replacement for fenfluramine, Lorcaserin does not trigger serotonin receptors on heart valves, as did fenfluramine. During several extensive clinical weight loss trials, patients treated with Lorcaserin were watched quite closely for new heart valve damage and, as expected, no drug-induced valve damage was observed.
Once approved, Lorcaserin is expected to become available before the end of the summer. Medical obesity specialists, most of who are certified by the American Board of Obesity Medicine, are already familiar with the Lorcaserin study results, and as we have been long awaiting new tools in the obesity epidemic are expected to rapidly start using Lorcaserin in their weight loss practices as a new tool for weight loss. These drugs cannot become available fast enough. Hip- Hip Hooray!
Nick
Nick's Story
"I wish I would have come here first. We spend all our time reacting to the next great weight loss tip or program. It might work for a while, but does not last and we end up yo-yoing from one fad to the next – as we gain more weight." Read More
Gina
Lost 44.5 lbs
"I had no trouble adhering to the meals and they really helped catapult my progress! The classes were so beneficial to me because they helped change my thinking about how I viewed health, nutrition, and fitness.
I will always have my relationship with Scottsdale Weight Loss Center. They truly helped me change my life forever." Read More
Lauren
Lost 60 lbs
"Dr. Ziltzer and everyone who I have come in contact with at the Scottsdale Weight Loss office have been so encouraging and I look forward to seeing them each week. It is now a year and 2 months later since I started. I am down 60 lbs., which is the average amount a 9-year-old weighs, it is crazy to think I lost a whole person! I feel amazing, I hit my goal weight in November 2021 just before Thanksgiving. Nothing on my body hurts anymore..." Read More
Chuck
Lost 66 lbs
"The best thing I did was call the Scottsdale Weight Loss Center. I have a lot more energy, I'm not hungry, and it feels great.
You can take it from me that this is a program that produces results. The staff is always positive, supportive, and never judgmental.
Your visits always result in positive reinforcement, no matter if you had a good week or a bad week." Read More
Emily
Lost 101 lbs
"Here I am at the lowest I have been since high school weighing in at 155lbs. I have lost 101 lbs, BMI of 39 when I started, to 21.6, and of course at body fat % of 47.1 to 26.5%. I told myself by my 30th birthday I wanted to be confident in the way I look and I owe it all to SWLC. The entire staff is so welcoming and they are rooting for you just as much as you are rooting for yourself...." Read More
Reviews
Meet Our Team
Robert Ziltzer, MD, FACP, FAAP, FOMA
Obesity Medicine Certified Physician
Diana Bone, FNP-C
Specializing in Obesity Medicine
Craig Primack, MD, FACP, FAAP, MFOMA
Obesity Medicine Certified Physician
Kristen Ash, FNP-C, FNP-BC
Nurse Practitioner
Alicia Earley, FNP-C
Family Nurse Practitioner
