Sanofi Aventis the pharma giant recently announced that the European Medicines Agency has given a thumbs up fro the weight loss medicine Acomplia. The approval means that Acomplia will soon be available for sale in Europe and in all EU countries. The approval did not cover use of Acomplia for smoking cessation as had previously been hoped for by Sanofi Aventis. The approval stipulated that Acomplia was to be taken only with diet and exercise plans and only for those with a BMI of over 30 or in certain cases where diabetes or other complications were present in patients with a minimum BMI of 27.

The approval was given following extensive and thorough safety information and clinical testing programs involving over 6,600 participants from many different countries over 24 months. The testing showed that rimonabant (Acomplia) given in 20milligram daily doses helped weight loss reduced waist measurements and lowered cholesterol and triglycerides.

The number of obese people is drastically rising in the world and especially in America and the EU and is now a serious health problem as obesity is the trigger for many illnesses and conditions like diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Acomplia it was stressed is for people who really have a weight problem and not for people who just want a quick weight loss fix.

Acomplia works by blocking CB1 brain receptors that control the desire to eat and thus reduces appetite. The CB1 receptor also helps to set the body mass and energy balance.