Popular diet pill may cause heart problems t,-By DANIEL Q. HANEY ;;AP Medical Editor BOSTON Fifty-eight more cases of heart valve damage among . - users of fen-phen have been t -reported to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration since new concerns ...arose last month about the popular -prescription pill combination taken Thy millions to lose weight. As a result, the agency said yes- Vterday it will require new drug labels warning patients of the :potential danger. And a drug company announced i.ta new study on the medication's ;effects. The possibility that the diet ifdrugs might damage heart valves ;came to light July 8, when doctors *from the Mayo Clinic said they had 74 , ...identified 24 cases. a. The FDA then asked physicians :to report any other patients and ..that search turned up the 58 addi- 1 "What You Want To Eat" Breakfast - Lunch - Dinner • TONITE! lerket 14 ite l 4 Best Place a ► Sell it Fast! in Collegian Classifieds WELCOME STUDENTS FROM We buy back year 'round! RECYCLE USED TEXTBOOKS You'll have some cash and you'll help the environment. You can't beat that combination! Hours for August 27 - Septem Wed. & Thu. Bam - 9pm Fri. Bam - 6pm Sat. I Oam - spm I I am - spm I 1 am - spm Sun. Labor Day tional cases, all but two of them in women How many of those cases were actually caused by the medicines, however, is unclear. Some doctors wondered whether newly vigilant physicians might be hearing heart murmurs the tell tale sound of bad valves that have been there all along. Fen-phen is a combination of the prescription drugs fenfluramine and phentermine that suppresses appetite. Both drugs are approved by the FDA for short-term use in dieting, although not specifically in combi nation. "We are not absolutely saying you shouldn't use them," said Dr. James Bilstad, a drug evaluation chief at the FDA. "But physicians and patients need to consider the risk very care fully before going on them," he said. " VAVS;A:V.7::::::S;SAACT:V;;;;•:::.V.7::::,:•:::::"..707:S:::::VZC:•:::::::: •:::::::::::::: •:::::S::: . r .."-e l e ! e l e l e z e..p 2 e ! ".r2e•ez.r.zeze..ez , zeze. ,. e•rT":!.ezrz:::•. - ze:.•••••e::•?•.••••••••••••••... , :::; ...I At the Days Inn Penn State ::; 5 : :5 •:::1 STUDENT •:.7":: 55 -0:.7. ." .7.4. .; .. 5 .v.• g Mß]lci I P .% ~ ..7, .;:z FALL 55 ":.7. DOWNTOWN •V. :: SEMESTER g. "::. •d• .%. •••• r•s• .;... FITNESS` ' •::: :.: . 4 ::‘•s• . t . . 7. 0 0 , .. e , :e • . "::„ :%. • ".. . F 4 SWIM & FITNESS 0 (3)1 "e ." F A ' . ...,e; •" C • L. • 1./ • 13 • .1-* •-. 4 Membership includes: •-.1."-.. :: :•-•;:- ::-'Aerobics, : Swimming Pool, Unlimited :::-; --.- *.- Stair Climbers, Aerdyne Bicycles, :?.. - ::-::5- -..--. ••• Treadmill Aerobicycles .... Multi-Station Gym, Lower Bodyy.-.7. •:- si - Nautilus, Free Weights, and Sauna. -v: - -:-:: a.- *Add unlimited tanning to . 05 ta .... ..., your membership for only I •Fi.-:- -:::: :•:: ..•.• :-...- •::-. Call Today 238-4225 .., ...::: .-..:- ....-::: lifer expires 11/31/31 :Fi. 'A::::•:::"•:•:.:::.:.:::.::...:.:::.:.:**:::::.g?..?'"*§•::.:.:::.-.:.....:..i::::-:::•:::::.::••:::••:::.::••::.**:••:•:•.:::.::•:.:.:•::: Given the large number of peo ple using these drugs, the risk of heart damage is clearly low. But just how great the risk is even whether it truly exists can not be determined without a care ful study comparing diet pill users with overweight people who are not taking the medicines. Drug company officials have raised the possibility that obesity itself not drugs to treat the con dition may actually be causing the heart problems. To help settle these questions, Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories, which makes the Pondimin brand of fen fluramine, said yesterday it will sponsor a study of 1,200 fen-phen users and others being treated for obesity at several institutions. "Recognizing that both drugs have been available for many years and millions of patients have taken them, we were quite surprised to have this finding," said Dr. Marc Come In For Pt Great Selectio KS n Of • USED' EICOO • SCHOOL SUPPLIES • PENN STATE CLOTHING MD GIFTS • GENES READING BOOKS • REFERENCE BOOKS fM] W. Deitch. "But we take it very seriously," said Deitch, Wyeth- Ayerst's medical director. The FDA described its latest findings in last Thursday's issue of the New England Journal of Medi cine. Fenfluramine is chemically simi lar to Redux, another popular appetite suppressant that came on the market last year. The FDA said it had also learned of four cases of heart valve dam age in Redux users. There also were two in patients taking fenfluramine alone and two in patients taking Redux plus phen termine. At Interneuron Pharmaceuticals, which makes Redux, spokesman Bill Boni said: "This is a very limited number of cases that may or may not have anything to do with the drug and may be related to the underlying condition of obesity." 4p.m. Friday, Aug. 29, ad deadline d=Collegian for Wednesday, Sept. 3 Dr. Michael Hamilton, an obesity expert at Duke University, said he discovered a heart murmur in one of his own fen-phen patients. He discovered the murmur in his patient after the Mayo Clinic cases were reported, he said. "I don't know if it was always there, whether I hadn't listened carefully enough that first day, whether the air conditioner noise made it difficult to hear," he said. Doctors appear to have cut back their use of all three drugs. Figures from IMS America, a drug market research company, show that in the month after the Mayo Clinic findings were made public, new prescriptions for fen fluramine fell 40 percent. Redux fell 23 percent and phen termine fell 18 percent. The valve damage appears to be separate from another well-known hazard of diet drugs an often We're "leaving" for Labor Day. Our office will be closed University Book Centre 206 E. College Ave. 238-0524 www.ubookcentre.com Monday, On Earl Ad Deadlines: 4 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 28, ad deadline for Tuesday, Sept. 2 and PALL 199.1 710 b / H/T 703.1 F 4,1 COUPOIV I 3001( Selection of School Supplies fatal condition called pulmonary hypertension, a narrowing or blockage of the artery that carries blood from the heart to the lungs. It can result in permanent dam age to both the lungs and the heart muscle. The drugs suppress appetite by boosting serotonin a chemical that relays messages in the brain. A review in last Wednesday's issue of the Journal of the Ameri can Medical Association said heavy doses of both Redux and fenflu ramine appear to disrupt brain lev els of serotonin in animals. There is no evidence of this in people. Manufacturers recommend that the diet drugs be used only by seri ously obese people. Obesity contributes to breathing problems, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, gall stones and arthritis and plays a part in 300,000 deaths a year. Sept. Large 1 MTN' DIICOVER 1 -4-r4,
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