Vigabatrin, a new prescription drug that has shown promise as a treatment for drug addiction, has been found to facilitate quick weight loss in animals. This means that it may become yet another treatment for weight loss in humans.
The U.S, Department of Energy (also known as DOE) has its own research division called the Brookhaven National Laboratory. Researchers of Vigabatrin found that animals that were deliberately bred to be obese loss up to 19 percent of their total weight in the trials. Non obese animals lost 12 percent to 20% after being on the drug for a similar amount of time.
The drug appeared to work by making the animals feel too full to eat. This is known as a feeling satiety.
This study is very recent and was first published on August 20, 2008 in the media distribution service known as Synapse. The publication describes how all of the animals involved in the study were given vigabatrin or a placebo for up to fortydays. By the end of the study all of the animals that were fed the new prescription drug weighed significantly less and had also consumed lesser amounts of food.
This drug is still in the experimental stage and not approved yet. It has only been approved for clinical trials by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The study on obese animals was Phase II of this research. Phase I confirmed that the drug could be part of a treatment plan to help people break patterns of cocaine and methamphetamine addiction.
Brookhaven researchers have discovered a strong correlation between obesity and addiction in the past. Similar changes in brain chemistry occur in the brains of both food and cocaine addicts. The trials revealed that the drug could bring hope for those with severe cocaine dependency.