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About Rimonabant |
Rimonabant is a drug
that was developed for the treatment of obesity and the associated
metabolic risk factors by the French pharmaceutical company that
discovered it Sanofi-Aventus. Rimonabant is said to block the CB1
Endocannabinoid receptor that is located in the physiological system
known as the Endocannabinoid System which is thought to have a
important part to play in the regulation of the intake of food and
energy usage.
Rimonabant selectively targets and blocks the CB1 receptors, which
assists in normalizing the Endocannabinoid system whenever it is
over-activating. The CB1 receptors are found to be overactive in
overweight and obese persons. This normalizing of the
Endocannabinoid system has the effect of making hunger and cigarette
cravings more manageable.
The immense interest in Rimonabant has happened because the earlier
results of research done on the drug found that when the signals
that control cravings are blocked, weight loss is not the only thing
that was affected. The blocking also seems to cause an improvement
in cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors in patients who were
overweight and obese. In one particular trial there was a reduction
in waist size of 7.6 cm, which showed a notable fall in abdominal
obesity, considered a heart disease marker.
Rimonabant was also shown to cause a drastic improvement in fat
profile, as there was a 23% increase in HDL cholesterol (the good
cholesterol), with a decrease in triglycerides of about 15%.
Rimonabant also caused a marked improvement in insulin levels and
glucose tolerance.
Rimonabant is marketed across Europe and in a few Latin American
countries as Acomplia.
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