Acomplia

rimonabant

What does Acomplia refer to?

Also known as rimonabant, Acomplia refers to an anti-obesity medication. It is the pioneer in a relatively new category of therapeutic agents known as Cannabinoid-1 receptor blockers (CB1). The drug is used to treat obesity and other related conditions.

How does Acomplia work?

Acomplia works by discriminately blocking the CBI receptors in one’s brain as well as in the peripheral organs crucial in fat (lipids) and glucose metabolism including the liver, muscle 1, adipose tissue and the gastrointestinal tract.

Acomplia turns off the brain circuits responsible for making people hungry once they have smoked cannabis.

Once Acomplia blocks the CBI receptors, there is a decrease in the EC system (endo-cannabinoid system). The endocannabinoid system was recently characterized as a physiological system 3which included receptors like CBI receptor. It has is known to play a crucial role in the regulation of body weight, controlling the energy balance and fat (lipid) and glucose metabolism.

Uses of Acomplia

The drug is used to complement the exercise and diet in treating overweight and obese patients suffering from unusual blood fat levels as well as Type 2 diabetes.

Acomplia would also be beneficial to individuals whose waist circumference is large (88 com for women and 102 cm for men).

Acomplia is also said to eliminate the risk of getting cardiovascular diseases.

Would Acomplia aid in smoking cessation?

Studies on the drug have been done by Sanofi-Aventis on its capability to aid smoking cessation on the premise of done for a year on more than 6500 smokers who were motivated to cease smoking.

A New Drug Application was submitted by Sanofi- Aventis, which consequently issued non-approvable letter concerning Acomplia as an aid for smoking cessation. However, Acomplia was approved as effective for weight management.

Acomplia Side effects

Some of the people who tried Acomplia in obesity underwent nausea and vomiting. These led to 19% of the patients stopping the trial compared to the 13% in placebo’s case.