Innovation… A pill to suppress hunger, reduce obesity

The race is on to create an effective pharmaceutical solution to the obesity epidemic.

Recently, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Sciences in the US announced the discovery of a pill that tricks the body into feeling full, inducing the energy-burning process.

“This pill is like an imaginary meal,” says Ronald Evans, director of Salk’s Gene Expression Laboratory and senior author of the new paper, published January 5, 2014 in Nature Medicine.

It’s made from a compound called fexaramine that, once it dissolves in the digestive track, doesn’t cause the same uncomfortable side-effects that other appetite suppressants are known for such as dizziness and nausea.

“It sends out the same signals that normally happen when you eat a lot of food, so the body starts clearing out space to store it. But there are no calories and no change in appetite.”

 

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