Drugs like Xenical and Reductil have been tested by health authorities

At Ukmedix News we have often written about the placebo effect that some medications can have especially those that help men who suffer from erectile dysfunction. The placebo effect is extremely powerful and is often used by doctors as a way of treating simple conditions like aches and pains. However fascinating new research shows that the placebo effect could even come into play in helping people lose weight with dud diet pills.

The research which was carried out by Professor Regan involved a group of volunteers who were instructed to take the dud diet pill three times daily just before eating.  They were informed that the pills were designed to reduce fat molecules and were also given advice about healthy eating and told to get some exercise which is common practice when dispensing any weight loss medication.

Some of the volunteers said that they genuinely believed that the dud pills were working because they lost weight and were shocked to find out what they had been given. Some of them said that they believe the pills to be appetite suppressants because they never felt hungry when they were using them.

Professor Regan from the St Mary’s Hospital in London said that he conducted this trial to show that many weight loss products don’t work and that people were led to believe that they lost weight because of them when in fact the weight loss was due to them eating less and getting exercise.

There are hundreds of weight loss supplements on the market and therefore you should be very wary before you use anything unless it has been given to you on the specific recommendations of a doctor. Drugs like Xenical and Reductil have been tested by health authorities around the world and subjected to clinical trials alongside men and women who received placebo tablets so that the scientists could see the extra benefits that these drugs produced over and above the well documented placebo effect of weight loss medication.

In these clinical trials if the people taking the placebo tablets lost more or less the same amount of weight as those taking the real weight loss medication, approval would not be forthcoming. The weight loss drugs Xenical and Reductil have been given approval by the Food & Drug Administration in America and the European Medicines Authority in the EU.