Diet Pills
America is a nation with a problem, a weight problem. Over one third of the United States population is over weight (Cameron 202). To combat this problem many people have chosen to take prescription diet pills. While medical experts continue to affirm that diet and exercise should remain the first line of defense in treating obesity, the use of drugs continues to receive attention in both the lay and professional literature. In fact, by 1996 doctors had written eighteen million prescriptions for the drug combination fenfluramine and phentermine. The major concern regarding the use of these drugs are their potential for producing life-threatening changes in cardiac valves (Gray 70). Diet drugs are far more dangerous than being slightly over weight, yet doctors continue to write prescriptions for drugs they know little about for people they know even less about. Many doctors feel that any side effect from any diet pill is safer than the risks that come with being obese. "Doctors, who have met with patients only once, will give out prescriptions for diet pills without a complete medical history, stating that there are many more side effects from being over weight than there are from taking diet
According to Katherine Cameron of Nutrition Today "By the 1970's the FDA knew there was a problem with diet pills; early diet pills caused mood swings personality changes and their use was wide spread and indiscriminate" (Cameron 207). As a person who has fought a weight problem all my life, and has a heart condition, I would never take a diet drug. I have lost ninety pounds over the last three years, and it was done the old fashion way, diet and exercise. What Americans need is education about losing weight; we need to learn what options are out there for us besides putting drugs in our bodies. We do not need a chemical to put in our body that will cause some unseen damage later in our lives. We also need to start learning about the prevention of obesity rather than continue to spend billions of dollars on the treatment of obesity. One would think that it would be easy to teach Americans that a healthy diet and exercise is a good start towards losing weight, but in this age if instant gratification, it seems to be a bit old fashion. drugs:" (Adato 43+). Many of these doctors feel that even a small weight gain is reason enough for some patients to take the drugs because "the loss of five to ten pounds reduces insulin resistance and lowers diabetes patients' already elevated risk of cardiovascular disease"(Welch42). However, some of the doctors giving out these prescriptions are giving them
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Approximate Word count = 951
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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