About XENICAL

XENICAL is an oral prescription weight-loss medication used to help considerably overweight people lose weight and keep this weight off. XENICAL works in your digestive system, where it blocks about one-third of the fat in the food you eat from being digested. This undigested fat in the food you eat is then eliminated in your bowel movements. XENICAL should be used together with a reduced-calorie diet with no more than 30% of calories from fat, which your doctor will recommend.

How does XENICAL work?

If you eat an excessive amount of fat or calories, the excess is stored as fat by the body, resulting in weight gain. When you eat fat, your body breaks it down into its simplest components so that it can be digested.

Enzymes in your digestive system, called lipases, help digest (or break down) fat. As shown to the right, when taken with meals, XENICAL attaches to the lipases and blocks them from breaking down some of the fat you have eaten.

The undigested fat cannot be absorbed and is eliminated in your bowel movements. By working this way, XENICAL helps block about one-third of the fat in the foods you eat from being absorbed by your body.

Following 1 year of treatment, XENICAL in combination with diet was shown to be more effective in reducing weight than diet alone. In most cases, weight loss was gradual. Patients treated with XENICAL and a reduced-calorie diet for 1 year lost an average of 13.4 lbs, while those on a reduced-calorie diet alone lost 5.8 lbs. And XENICAL helped more people lose weight. In fact, over twice as many XENICAL patients lost 10% of their body weight, and among those who did, the average weight loss was 31 lbs and the range of weight loss was between 16 and 74 lbs.

Is XENICAL Right For you?

A weight-loss program that includes a reduced-calorie diet with no more than 30% of calories from fat and appropriate physical activity may be adequate in some patients. You should discuss with your doctor or other health care provider whether XENICAL should be added to such a program.

XENICAL may be right for you if you are considerably overweight (at least 30 lbs, depending on height, or have a Body Mass Index, or BMI, of 30 or greater). XENICAL may also be right for you if you are overweight (at least 20 lbs, depending on height, or have a BMI of 27 or greater) and you also have other risk factors, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease or diabetes.

What makes XENICAL unique?

Unlike other commonly prescribed weight-loss medications, XENICAL is not an appetite suppressant and does not affect your metabolism. Instead, it works in your digestive system to block about one-third of the fat in the food you eat from being digested.