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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 4 of 4. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Diane on October 8, 1999, at 14:06:06
I took fen phen for over a year for TTM. Now I read of adverse side effects for dieters. I took a much larger dose than for diet and I took it for over a year. When I asked my medical doctor if I should be checked for problems she stated no it was not a big deal.
BIG DEAL OR NOT?
Diane
Posted by Noa on October 8, 1999, at 18:03:23
In reply to Fen Phen / OCD/TTM, posted by Diane on October 8, 1999, at 14:06:06
It sure sounded like a big deal when I heard about the heart valve problems form fenphen. Maybe you oughta get a second opinion. Perhaps your doc is a bit nervous about his/her responsibility in the matter, and wants to play it down. Hate to be so cynical, but.....
Posted by saint james on October 9, 1999, at 4:22:10
In reply to Fen Phen / OCD/TTM, posted by Diane on October 8, 1999, at 14:06:06
> I took fen phen for over a year for TTM. Now I read of adverse side effects for dieters. I took a much larger dose than for diet and I took it for over a year. When I asked my medical doctor if I should be checked for problems she stated no it was not a big deal.
>
> BIG DEAL OR NOT?
> DianeJames here...
A big deal. Look on the internet and you will see.
Long term, stims don't work for weight loss, in fact most gain back more weight. I have been on Dex for years, and now gain weight on it. Stims seem to be best used in people who have lots of weight to lose, and only to jump start things.j
Posted by dove on October 9, 1999, at 11:48:06
In reply to Fen Phen / OCD/TTM, posted by Diane on October 8, 1999, at 14:06:06
Study Finds Low Rate Of Heart Valve Disease Among Phen-Fen Users
October 1, 1999
Journal of the American College of Cardiology/MedscapeWirePeople who took the popular diet drug combination phen-fen (phentermine and fenfluramine) have a low incidence of heart valve disease — comparable to similar people who never took the drugs, according to a new study appearing in the October issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
"In contrast to some previous reports, we found no evidence of a high rate of valvular disease among people who took phen-fen," said Dr. Andrew J. Burger, of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.
The diet drugs fenfluramine and its close chemical cousin dexfenfluramine were withdrawn from the market 2 years ago after researchers reported that a large number of people who took the drugs appeared to have developed diseased heart valves. The early studies, which were uncontrolled, found potential valve problems in as many as 38% of people taking the drugs. Since then, different studies have produced conflicting results, though no study has yet found a significant number of patients who have developed symptomatic heart valve disease.
Dr. Burger and colleagues studied echocardiograms of 226 people who had been taking phen-fen as part of a large clinical trial. The echocardiograms were evaluated by 2 independent echocardiographers.
Significant aortic valve disease and mitral valve disease, as defined by the US Food and Drug Administration, was found in 6.6% and 1.3% of their subjects, respectively. No patients had symptomatic disease. Unlike some previous studies, which found that the longer patients took phen-fen the more likely they were to have valve disease, the Boston researchers found no association between length of exposure to the drugs and valve disease.
The rate of heart valve disease was similar to a comparable group of patients who had been studied previously in the Framingham Heart Study and who had never taken phen-fen. Dr. Burger and his colleagues observed that a significant portion of healthy people may have abnormal echocardiograms without clinical disease, whether or not they took phen-fen.
In a related editorial by Dr. Nelson B. Schiller, of the University of California at San Francisco, he questions the association between phen-fen and valvular heart disease and notes that "as studies have become more scientifically rigorous, the role of phen-fen in valve disease appears to be approaching the vanishing point.
He also addresses the "insidious problem" of the "almost universal misapplication of echocardiography to the evaluation of valvular regurgitation" raised by the phen-fen experience.
This is the end of the thread.
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