Stopping a desire for snack foods can lead to weight loss.
(Lisa Poole/Associated Press/File 2007)
NEW YORK - Merck & Co.'s experimental diet pill, developed using research on marijuana, may curb the munchies and lead to weight loss, a study says.
Patients taking the pill, taranabant, lost an average of 6 to 12 pounds, depending on dose. Those given a placebo lost about 3 pounds during the 12-week study, published yesterday by the journal Cell Metabolism. The research is in the second of three phases of testing needed for US marketing approval.
About 31 percent of Americans over the age of 20 have abnormally high body fat, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. The drug targets a receptor found in the brain and gastrointestinal tract found through study on marijuana, the researchers wrote.
"It's known that when you smoke marijuana, which is a natural chemical that stimulates the receptor, the marijuana has beneficial effects on nausea," said Steven Heymsfield of Merck. The effect on the receptor, called CB1, explains why, he said.
Unlike marijuana, taranabant blocks the CB1 receptor, suppressing appetite. Side effects include anxiety, nausea, vomiting, and frequent bowel movements, according to the study. All were more pronounced in the higher doses.
Larger studies will be done to determine the specific profile of the side effects, Heymsfield said.
Shares of Merck, based in Whitehouse Station, N.J., rose $1.74, or 3 percent, to $59.66.
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