Phentermine Is Not the Healthy Safe Way to Lose Weight - Essay Example

Weight loss pills provide a painless way of losing weight. In the modern world, we have seen a great rise in weight-loss drugs, weight loss pills, and weight loss supplements. In many countries, some weight loss pill brands have got immense popularity. They have indeed given good results and that’s the main reason for their success. Rarely do people think about the side effects of these drugs as much as they lose weight quickly and most significantly losing weight painlessly?

Phentermine: This drug is meant to help users learn new eating habits and get motivated to lose weight and get healthy (“Real people, real results”). The drug received approval in 1959 from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an appetite suppressant for the short-term treatment of obesity. It is the most commonly prescribed prescription appetite suppressant, accounting for 50% of the prescriptions, partly because it's significantly cheaper than the other major FDA-approved diet drugs.

 Phentermine stimulates the hypothalamus gland, therefore, affecting certain neurotransmitters to decrease appetite. Hypothalamus is a part of the brain that controls the autonomic nervous system, regulating sleep cycles, body temperature, appetite, etc. Like many other prescription drugs, Phentermine functions with neurotransmitters chemicals in the human brain. It triggers neuron bundles to release catecholamines, a particular group of neurotransmitters that comprises; dopamine, epinephrine (formally known as adrenalin), and norepinephrine (noradrenaline). Accordingly, neurotransmitters signal a fight or flight response in the body which in turn, puts a halt to the hunger signal hence resulting in loss of appetite because the brain doesn't receive the hunger message. Loss of appetite is perhaps due to phentermine's effects on leptin levels in the brain. It is believed that phentermine can increase the levels of leptin which signals satiety. In addition, the increased levels of the catecholamines are partially responsible for inhibiting another chemical messenger know as neuropeptide Y. This chemical initiates eating, decreases energy expenditure, and consequently increases fat storage.

Critique: Most people have a quest of losing weight and gaining perfect body shapes but have no will to burn the excess fats in a natural way. This has made them seek fat-burning pills, commonly known as diet pills, to help them gain quick results. However, the fat-burning pills have a short working period in which major side effects can be manifested. Blurred vision, dry mouth, sleeplessness, irritability, stomach upset, or constipation may occur the first few days as your body adjusts to the medication, others include:

Limitation of Appetite: The fat-burning pills may cause the breakage of fats which are stored in the body for the provision of energy as well as the growth of cell membrane through the increase of metabolism. This increase makes the fats burn rapidly which restrains appetite.

Addiction: The daily intake of these fat-burning pills leads to addiction where once you have started using them, stopping becomes a real issue. This mostly occurs when the users discover that actually, the pills have a shedding aspect on the basis of fat after some few weeks or days of taking them. This tread goes on and on till users realize they cannot live without them leading to addiction.

 Lack of Sleep: The intake of these fat-burning pills causes the users to have insomnia especially at night. The users of these pills feel have drunk several cups of tea or coffee but in a real sense, this is false. They leave the users turning and tossing till morning because of not sleeping well. Feelings of anxiety and restlessness are also affected during the intake of the pills.

 Internal Disruptions: The symptoms that the users experience immediately after taking these fat-burning foods are; dizziness, headaches, alterations of the menstrual cycle, chest pains, vomiting, diarrhea, and convulsions which take a long period of time before they cool down. These symptoms mostly show once the pills have started their reaction stages in the body.

People rarely think about the side effects of these drugs. For instance, fat-burning pills can burn the liver leading to severe injuries. Though it might not happen to everyone, there is a greater possibility that the liver may be ripped up by weight loss drugs. To a larger extent, natural means can assure you long-term weight loss. I believe food nutrition and daily exercise is the key for successful weight loss. Remember, No pain – No gain!