Contrave is an experimental drug which is on its clinical trial stage, and is supposed to fight obesity and help people to lose weight. The Generic Name of Contrave is Bupropion/naltrexone.
Contrave is created by Orexigen Therapeutics Inc., a California based pharmaceutical company. The drug Contrave is composed of two ingredients namely Naltrexone IR or immediate release and Bupropion SR or sustained release. Both drugs have shown good results in weight loss. Individually, both drugs have been in the market for almost 2 decades.
The drug Naltrexone is known to many as brands like Revia and Vivitrol, while popular brands for Bupropion are Zyban and Wellbutrin. Naltrexone is being used for treatment of alcohol addiction as well as opioid dependence. Bupropion on the other hand is used mainly as an anti-depressant drug as well as for those who wants to stop smoking.
How does Contrave Work?
It is believed that the chemical Bupropion is the one responsible for the weight loss effects while Naltrexone prevents the body to make counteract the effects of Bupropion in terms of weight loss.
While many diet pills make you lose appetite by having effects on your stomach and digestive system, the effect of Contrave is concentrated mainly on the Hypothalamus. Having effects on the CNS or Central Nervous System, Contrave can fight obesity by allowing its patients to eat less food. The following are the effects of Contrave to patients.
Effects of Contrave (Bupropion/naltrexone)
- Helps in weight loss by reducing appetite and increase metabolism
- Stops food cravings
- Fights back the natural tendency of the body to recuperate the lost weight during medication.
Recommended Dose for Contrave
The recommended daily dose of Contrave is two (8 mg naltrexone/90 mg bupropion) tablets taken twice daily (4 tablets total – 32 mg naltrexone, 360 mg bupropion).
Clinical Trials for Contrave
On one clinical trial, people who took Contrave, together with a healthy diet and regular exercise lost more weight than those who were given placebo.
The placebo group lost an average of 11-16 pounds or 5% of body weight during the 56 week trial.
The Contrave group on the other hand lost 20-23 pounds of body weight during the same amount of time.
During the trial, it was found out that Contrave is at par if not more effective then most weight loss medications. Most diet pills and weight loss medications have only a success rate of 5-22 pounds lost for a six month period.
There were 700 participants for that clinical trial and 90% of them are women. Average weight for all participants is 223 pounds.
Contrave Updates
As of the time of writing, Contrave is not been given a go signal to be sold in stores nationwide.
On February 2011, the US FDA rejected the sale of the drug and asks the manufactures to conduct a large scale study particularly in the cardiovascular effects of Contrave to its patients. The success of the trial is needed in order for Contrave to have an FDA approval.
As of September 2011, Orexigen Therapeutics Inc announced that the FDA has agreed to a clinical study that has 10,000 patients and would take more than 2 years to finish. The FDA is supposed to review the results of the clinical study by 2014.
Cardio vascular issues are the main reason why many of the weight loss medications are not allowed to be sold or removed from the shelves. The latest one was Abbott Laboratory’s Meridia, for reasons that in might increase the risks of having stroke and heart attacks.
Roche’s Xenical on the other hand is still a successful prescription drug for weight loss and has been in the market for some years now. Some generic drugs for weight lose such as Phentermine has approval for short term weight loss.
Get more news and updates for Contrave and other weight loss diet pills and supplements here on How To Lose 5 Pounds in a Week Fast
Leave a Reply