Currently, Dr. Ed Hendricks and the medical staff at The Center for Weight Management, located in Sacramento, are working on several research projects. Dr. Hendricks, working with Dr. Frank Greenway at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center of Louisiana State University and in cooperation with the American Society of Bariatric Physicians, is conducting nationwide surveys of bariatric physicians concerning their weight management medication prescribing practices. Doctors Greenway and Hendricks are preparing a report on the first survey for publication and for presentation at future national medical meetings.
Findings of Interest
96 percent of physicians practicing bariatric medicine prescribe appetite suppressant medications when indicated, and 97.5 percent of those prescribe phentermine.
Dr. Richard Rothman and Dr. Hendricks are cooperating in a study collecting data on what happens when patients stop taking phentermine abruptly. Dr. Rothman is a researcher in neuropharmacology at the National Institutes for Health (NIH), but also practices bariatric medicine with offices in Maryland and Virginia. Dr. Rothman is the discoverer of the effectiveness of 5HTP combined with Carbidopa for suppressing eating and treating carbohydrate cravings.
Although there have been no prior human clinical studies examining whether any signs of addiction occur, the Food and Drug Administration has categorized phentermine as potentially addictive. Despite being labeled as such, not one case of phentermine addiction has ever been reported in medical literature after almost 50 years of widespread use, and neither doctor has ever diagnosed addiction to phentermine in any patient in their respective careers.
Based on their experience, neither doctor believes phentermine addiction occurs. As patients who become substance addicted exhibit withdrawal symptoms characteristic for the substance in question, the study in progress consists of performing a standardized psychiatric examination for stimulant substance withdrawal on patients who, for reasons only they know, stopped taking phentermine abruptly.
The hypothesis of the study is: patients who abstain from taking their phentermine exhibit symptoms no different from patients who are not taking phentermine. Preliminary results strongly support this hypothesis. Upon completion of the study, Doctors Rothman and Hendricks plan to prepare a report for publication and for presentation at medical meetings. Patients who believe they should be included in the study should contact Dr. Hendricks.
Dr. Eric Westman and Dr. Hendricks are cooperating in another study on phentermine safety in which patients placed on phentermine are examined for blood pressure changes. Dr. Westman is an associate professor of medicine at Duke University Medical School.
The hypotheses of this retrospective study are: 1) in enrollees in our weight management programs, blood pressures trend downward when taking phentermine; 2) in enrollees who do not take phentermine, blood pressures trend downward, and 3) there is no significant difference between the two groups. Preliminary results support the hypotheses. Upon completion of the study, Drs. Westman and Hendricks plan to prepare a report for publication and for presentation at medical meetings.
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New reports in the medical literature continue to be published at a rate of nearly 10,000 per year. Dr. Hendricks is a strong advocate of keeping up with the new research so that our treatment methods are always updated when new information appears. As important new reports are published Dr. Hendricks will post reviews here.
Several recent reports have re-affirmed the hypothesis that excess abdominal fat leads to and accelerates inflammatory processes and increases the risk of diabetes, coronary heart disease, breast cancer and others. A new report analyzing data from the Harvard Nurses' Study strongly suggests that abdominal obesity (determined by waist measurement) is associated with an increased risk of premature death from cardiovascular disease, and with an increased risk of death due to cancer.1 The abstract may be reviewed at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve
&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=18362231
An authoritative review of the inflammatory effects of excess abdominal fat was published recently.2 Dr. Hendricks is studying this report carefully because he thinks it provides strong support for a revision in obesity treatment guidelines. The abstract of this paper can be found at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve
&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=18327995
A report of a large prospective study in the United Kingdom appeared recently in which the authors found that even small increases in weight over 9 years led to an increase in blood markers for inflammation.3 The abstract of the paper can be found at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve
&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=18175734
1. Zhang C, Rexrode KM, van Dam RM, Li TY, Hu FB. Abdominal Obesity and the Risk of All-Cause, Cardiovascular, and Cancer Mortality. Sixteen Years of Follow-Up in US Women. Circulation 2008.
2. Bays HE, Gonzalez-Campoy JM, Bray GA, et al. Pathogenic potential of adipose tissue and metabolic consequences of adipocyte hypertrophy and increased visceral adiposity. Expert Rev Cardiovasc Ther 2008;6(3):343-68.
3. Fogarty AW, Glancy C, Jones S, Lewis SA, McKeever TM, Britton JR. A prospective study of weight change and systemic inflammation over 9 y. Am J Clin Nutr 2008;87(1):30-5.
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Contact The Center for Weight Management, serving the Sacramento, to learn more about the latest topics in weight loss and management.
2310 Professional Dr., St. 200
Roseville, California 95661
Phone:916.773.1191
Fax: 916.773.0498
click for map & directions
2621 Capitol Ave.
Sacramento, California 95816
Phone: 916.551.1999
Fax: 916.551.1998
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