Ask the Expert Archive Week 14
Xenicol
Maybe you've seen the ads for it on American TV. It's the hot new diet drug Xenicol. Here's Dr. Paul Caldwell with a look at how it works.
Thirty percent of Canadians are extremely overweight, obese. So it is good new that there is a new approach to obesity in Canada now. The standard approach to obesity is still a calorie-reduced diet and moderate exercise, but there is a new kid on the block, a new drug called Xenicol. We've had drugs for the treatment of obesity before but they acted on the brian decreasing appetite and they had side effects on the brain. They created agitation, depression, and headaches, but Xenicol is different because it operates on a different mechanism.
You see when you eat fat, the fat is digested by enzymes in your stomach and your bowel called lipase. So when you eat fat the lipases digest the fat to smaller particles and allow it to be absorbed. Xenicol, the new drug, blocks that so the fat sits in the stomach and is passed out. Xenicol doesn't get into your blood stream at all, it doesn't go to your brain or your liver, so the side effects are limited to the gut. Is it a good drug, I don't know it is too early to tell, but certainly with this interesting mechanism it is something to keep in mind when you are talking about weight reduction. If you would like to send a question to Ask the Expert you can either email us at rx@tvo.org or fill out our form.
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