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American Morning

The Big Question: What Are New Weight Loss Drugs?

Aired April 30, 2002 - 09:50   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The "Big Question" this hour, what are the new weight loss drugs? The number of overweight Americans has created something of a pharmaceutical frenzy, with as many as 100 new obesity drugs currently being developed. But, really, what is the best body solution? Popping pills to lose weight, or an attitude adjustment? Dr. Howard Shapiro is the author of the book "Picture Perfect Weight Loss." He joins us now with some advice for fighting that battle of the bulge.

Welcome, good to see you. Let's talk a little bit about these drugs. I know there's a broad group of them. How effective are any of them.

DR. HOWARD SHAPIRO, AUTHOR, "PICTURE PERFECT WEIGHT LOSS": Well, first of all, none of them are available now. They're working on about 50-100 new drugs, and out of that, you will probably get about two or three that hit the market, and that will be a couple of years down the road. And they're looking at three different types. They're looking at drugs that cut down your appetite. They're looking at drugs that make you feel full, and they're looking at other drugs that give you a sense that you don't want to eat anything and increase your metabolism.

I think that people should try to diet without drugs in the beginning, because if you -- you don't have change your lifestyle; you should just change your relationship with food. Drugs are a tool. It's not the end of the world. It's the tool you can use when you're struggling later for some people. If you have medical problems, you shouldn't take them, high blood pressure, cardiac problems, you shouldn't take them.

I don't think that anyone should come into an office first and say, OK, I need some pills, because I think if you change somebody's relationship with food by showing them other foods they can turn to, people can eat a lot of food.

Diets don't work because people they have to eat less. Diets don't work. If you show people eat as much food or more food than you're presently eating, that there is no wrong time of the day to eat, and that there is no forbidden food. You can make a choice to have chocolate cake. Don't eat it mindlessly. Then you will be able to lose weight and keep it off, and that's the promise.

ZAHN: With what you're saying, you're going to get everybody in the country to go on a diet here. It makes sense.

SHAPIRO: We show people how to do this so that they can eat more food. I put a group of firemen on the program. I put 25 firemen on the program, and they not only lost between 19 and 45 pounds in 10 weeks, and I'm not saying people can do that generally, but they've kept this weight off for two years. That's the key.

ZAHN: Let's go to some of the e-mails now. Our first one comes from Jim. He says, "I have a 50-pound beer belly. I can't get rid of it. I also have a family history of diabetes. How do I get motivated, and how worried should I be about diabetes?"

SHAPIRO: Well, think should be very worried about diabetes, because diabetes is a disease that effects every organ in your boat. It effects your vascular system, your vision. It effects your heart. So he has to definitely consider that this is his main focus. And whatever it takes for him to lose weight comfortably is what he should do. I mean, he can't lose weight to say I want to get into a size smaller clothing, he has got to lose weight because it's going to save his life.

So it's important for him to start exercising, to start finding foods that he likes that are lower calorie and to do that. And exercising sometimes is difficult. But if you do lifestyle exercises, walk, rake the leaves, do some errands, things that you can build into your life without feeling pain do, then do that.

ZAHN: The prospect of death doesn't motivate you.

SHAPIRO: Then nothing else does.

ZAHN: Good morning. Dean joins us on the telephone from -- you're from Florida, right? Good morning.\\

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, good morning, Paula.

This is Dean Chambers calling from Tampa, Florida. My question for the doctor is, with our society seeking ways to lose weight, what age to parent actually consider letting their children take diet pills? And also, what do we do to educate them to avoid products like Ephedrine and other harmful products?

ZAHN: Buy, that is a great question. Particularly, the issue of weight is a huge issue at high schools, even in junior high schools now all across the country.

SHAPIRO: And what's happening, kids are becoming obese and it's becoming an epidemic at this point, and then what's going to happen is kids will develop diabetes at a younger age, and high cholesterol at a younger age. You can't -- first of all, I don't think you should give kids pills. That's the first thing. Secondly, I don't think that you should say to your child, you've got to go on a diet and lose weight and push them, because they will resent it, they will fight back.

But you have to listen to your kids, and as soon as they say that they're unhappy, as soon as they say somebody made fun of them in school, or anytime they elicit any type of information, that's when you can make your move and help guide them. And the most important thing that parents can do, and a lot of parents don't do this, is set an example. Keep the right foods on the table. Keep the right foods at home. Have snack foods at home that are healthy, snack foods like fruit, dried fruit, you can have hard candies, lollipops, low-calorie popsicles.

There is lots of foods that kids like that you can keep in your house. And if you set the example, then they will follow it. And if they say something to you, then you help them.

ZAHN: That's your cue.

Next e-mail is from Dan.

He says, "I am 52 and quit smoking a little over a year ago. I've gained 30 lbs. since quitting. Smoking seems the only way I can keep the weight off."

I can hear what you are going to say, cop-out! Am I putting words into your mouth, or are you taking...

SHAPIRO: It's a heck of a choice, to smoke or lose weight. I think what I tell my patients is, first of all, that they should try to lose some weight first, and then they should try to stop smoking, because they may gain a few pounds back when they stop the smoking, but it will motivate them if they've lost some weight in the beginning, and the bottom line is, you know, these -- smoking is a killer, and obesity is a killer. So you really want to try to loss a little bit of weight, Then switch to the non-smoking part, and then you can deal with the weight again.

ZAHN: We have Sarah (ph) on the line from Minnesota this morning.

Good morning, Sarah.

You're the first woman that's called today. I thought that was interesting that our first three responses came from men.

Good morning.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good morning, Paula.

Dr. Shapiro, I've got a question for you.

OK, I've gained a lot of weight with my last child, and I've tried diet pills. I've tried watching what I eat and exercising. My question is: does genetics have anything to do with that, since both sides of my family are pretty obese?

SHAPIRO: Definitely genetics is a major factor of people that are overweight. But even if you have genetics that keep you heavy, you certainly can lose a certain weight within a range. You may not be 200 pounds and get down to 120 pounds. But if you are 200 pounds, and you can get down to 175, then that's going to be worth it. And there's always a certain amount of weight that you can lose. You may hit barrier, you may hit a block and not get to a particular goal. But it's certainly worth trying and you can definitely lose some of the weight.

And obviously, you gained this weight when you were pregnant. You didn't have it before the pregnancy. So it's certainly something you can lose.

ZAHN: I want to close off the segment with an e-mail from Nancy. She writes: "Are a low-calorie diet and exercise the only factors in losing weight? What part do carbohydrates and proteins play?"

Someone asked you that question during the break. We all want to know the magic balance here.

SHAPIRO: There's no magic balance actually. What you should do -- I mean, there is a number that people say. They think that you should have 50 percent carbohydrates, 30 percent fat and the rest protein. But the bottom line is this. You should eat foods that you like that are comfortable.. You should not cut carbs out totally, because it's not going to be comfortable for you.

If you want to have a lot of protein in your diet, you may do that. But you should have some balance, where you have some fat, where you have some carbohydrates, and where you are eating foods that you like, and do it that way, because as soon as you eliminate a particular food group. That's the food group you want. You will do it for a month, and then you will feel deprived, and then you will go back to eating it, and then you will be right back to where you were again.

ZAHN: And of course don't ever underestimate the value of exercise.

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