The new weight loss drug Acomplia that was recently launched in the United Kingdom is generating interest in New Zealand. Acomplia has been touted as the weight loss drug to beat them all and is available with a prescription from a doctor for overweight and obese people. The drug is basically an appetite surpressant that works on the cannaboid receptors in the brain that control hunger pangs and appetite. The drug made headlines on its launch as it has the opposite effect on the cannaboid receptors as the drug marijuana which causes you to feel very hungry and get 'the munchies'.

Acomplia is manufacturered by the French drug firm Sanofi Aventis and has been given full approval by the EMEA the EU drugs licencing authority. The drug was the subject of extensive testing involving thousands of people over many years and the results showed that not only was weight reduced in the people who used it but their bad cholesterol levels were reduced and good cholesterol levels were increased. The drug had beneficial effects on blood pressure and hypertension too more than just the amount expected from the weight loss alone. Overall the drug will have a effect on reducing appetite and the risk of becoming diabetic or suffering from heart disease.

The drug must be taken inconjunction with a good and healthy diet and if so it can really help obese and overweight people. In the independent tests it was shown that the Acomplia pill could help to reduce body mass by as much as 10% in a year.

At present the Acomplia drug is being tested and evaluated by the health authorities of New Zealand and the some of the medical community there are hopeful that it will be available soon on prescription to help the growing numbers of obese people in New Zealand.