Soon the two leading health risks in the United States, obesity and smoking, could be tackled by the drug Rimonabant delivered in a single pill, according to two university studies.

Under development by the French firm Sanofi-Synthelabo, the drug is undergoing human tests by the company's drug development arm in Malvern, Pennsylvania, and could be ready for marketing approval next year, the firm's vice president Douglas Green said.

As a weight control drug, Rimonabant helped overweight people lose nine kilograms in one year, improving levels of good cholesterol and reducing triglycerides — fatty substances — in the bloodstream, according to a study by the University of Pennsylvania.

"It is an exciting breakthrough in basic science about body weight and appetite," said Tom Wadden, head of the university's Weight and Eating Disorders Programme who led the research.

Rimonabant was also found to help smokers almost double their odds of kicking the habit in 10 weeks, with overweight smokers losing half a kilo of fat at the same time, according to another study by the University of Cincinnati.

"We may have a very promising new approach for managing two major and preventable risk factors for cardiovascular disease with one and the same drug," said Dr. Robert Anthenelli, a psychiatry professor at Cincinnati who led the research for the smoking study.

The drug blocks specific receptors in the brain and fat cells, inhibiting the urges to eat and light up, the French company said.

Both studies found that the most common side effects of Rimonabant were nausea, dizziness and upper respiratory tract infections.

Around 2000 people took part in the two studies, which were presented on Tuesday at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Besides these studies, Sanofi-Synthelabo is also conducting five other trials involving 11 000 patients worldwide to examine Rimonabant's effect on smoking, weight loss, diabetes and cardiovascular risks.

News of the promising drug coincided with a study by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showing that obesity could top smoking as the leading cause of preventable death among Americans by 2005.

The number of deaths from poor diet and lack of exercise jumped by 33 percent between 1990 and 2000, while smoking-related deaths grew less than 10 percent, according to CDC estimates.

If trends continue, the CDC said, the death toll from the fast-food, couch-potato lifestyle could pass the 500 000 mark next year, overtaking tobacco as the leading cause of preventable death for the first time in more than 40 years.

AFP

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