Three men who were highly motivated to lose weight lost an average of 67 pounds using a combination of Xenical (orlistat), Meridia (sibutramine), and Topamax (topiramate) according to a paper from Free University in Berlin, Germany.

Diet drug studies lasting 9 to 12 months show weight losses of 8-17 pounds more than placebo, or 3 to 8 percent of bodyweight, according to a recent review by G. Glazer from the University of Rochester School of Medicine, in New York.

Here is the American Dietetic Assoication’s position on weight management as of 2002.

Patients lost an average 8.7 percent of body weight after one year of taking Xenical (orlistat) compared to 4.3 percent for those given a placebo. After two years those in the Xenical group had maintained a weight loss of 5.2 percent versus 1.7 percent in the placebo group.

Patients lost an average of 10.3 percent of body weight after one year taking 120 mg of Xenical (orlistat) three times a day before each meal compared to 6.2 percent in those given a placebo according to a study from Roche Laboratories.

Patients lost 7.9 to 10.3 percent of body weight when given Xenical (orlistat) compared to 4.2 to 6.7 percent for those given a placebo according to five double-blind, placebo-controlled trials lasting one year.

Patients lost 7.9 percent of body weight after one year taking 60 mg of Xenical (orlistat) three times per day, while those taking 120 mg three times per day lost 9.2 percent compared to 5.8 percent for patients given a placebo.

Xenical (orlistat) plus diet causes 7.2 pounds greater weight loss than diet alone according to a recent review paper.

Early weight loss with Xenical (orlistat) predicts long-term success according to a recent study.

Xenical (orlistat) causes 3 percent more weight loss than a placebo according to a two-year study called the European Orlistat Obesity Study Group.

Xenical (orlistat) helps maintain weight loss according to a recent study.

“Numerous referrals to our Obesity Unit state that ‘treatment with Orlistat [Xenical] did not work’,” according to a recent letter in The International Journal of Obesity.

After questioning 70 such patients, the authors found that “in many cases the referral physician had not observed basic rules and regulations, nor given appropriate information on Orlistat [Xenical] use.”

Obese Mexican-American women lost 8.1 percent of their body weight after six months and 8.8 percent after one year when they were given Xenical (orlistat) along with lifestyle modifications according to a study from researchers at the Mid-American Heart Institute and the University of Kansas.