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FRIDAY, July 30 (HealthDay News) -- Contrave, an experimental weight loss drug that combines an antidepressant with an anti-addiction medication, appears to help users shed pounds when taken along with a healthy diet and exercise, researchers report.
People who took the drug for more than a year lost an average of 5 percent or more of body weight, depending on the dose used, the team said.
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However, the regimen did come with side effects, and about half of study participants dropped out before completing a year of treatment.
Contrave is combination of two well-known drugs, naltrexone (Revia, used to fight addictions) and the antidepressant bupropion (known by a number of names, including Wellbutrin). The drug, which is up for U.S. Food and Drug Administration review this December, appears to boost weight loss by changing the workings of the body's central nervous system, the researchers report.
The researchers, who report their findings online July 29 in The Lancet, enrolled men (15 percent) and women (85 percent) from around the country, ranging in age from 18 to 65. They were all either obese or overweight with high blood fat levels or high blood pressure.
The participants were told to eat less and exercise, and they were randomly assigned to take a twice-daily placebo or a combination of the two drugs with naltrexone at one of two levels.
After 56 weeks, only about half (870) of the more than 1,700 participants initially enrolled remained in the study. Almost half (48 percent) of those who took the highest dose of naltrexone lost 5 percent of their weight or more, while only 16 percent of those who took placebos did.
However, about 30 percent of those taking Contrave experienced nausea, the study authors say, and other side effects included headache, constipation, dizziness, vomiting and dry mouth.
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