Are Diet Pills Dangerous?

Obesity rates continue to rise in the United States, and along with that are more and more people looking for help to lose that weight. Diet pills often promise to provide a much-needed boost, melting away pounds with little effort. Unfortunately, many of the claims are exaggerated, and in some cases, the diet pills may actually do more harm than good.

Definition

• According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, a dietary supplement is legally defined as "a product taken by mouth that contains a dietary ingredient intended to supplement the diet." The list of ingredients that may be considered dietary supplements is extensive: vitamins, minerals, herbs or other botanicals, amino acids, enzymes, organ tissues, glandulars and metabolites.

FDA Regulations

• Americans tend to assume that the pills they take are safe--after all, the FDA requires testing before approving medication. FDA regulations, however, provide a large loophole. The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) signed into law in 1994 removed the requirement for approval for anything considered a "dietary supplement" rather than a medicine. The FDA must show that a product is unsafe before it can have it removed from market.

Possible Side Effects

• Whether classified as a medicine or a dietary supplement, diet pills are all intended to have the same end result. They change the way the body acts, with the goal being to lose weight. Remember that any pill can have side effects, even prescription drugs or all-natural herbal supplements. The side effects may be mild or just slightly annoying, or they can pose long-term dangers.

  Diet pills can cause mood swings and personality changes. This is sometimes caused simply by lack of sleep, since diet pills that promise increased energy deliver on that promise with large amounts of stimulants.

Gastric Side Effects

• A common side effect is digestive upset. They may cause nausea, vomiting, excess gas or diarrhea. For instance, Alli, an over-the-counter diet drug that has FDA approval, can have unpleasant side effects. Alli works by decreasing the fat absorbed by the body, so the undigested fat is eliminated through bowel movements. The downside is that if more than 15 grams of fat are eaten at a single meal, the digestive effects can be extremely unpleasant. Vomiting or diarrhea with any diet pill should be cause for concern, since dehydration can occur as a result of the fluid loss, and these place additional strain on other body systems.

Cardiac Effects

• The most dangerous possibility, however, is the risk of cardiac problems. In the 1990s, the prescription drug fenfluramine was banned after users developed potentially fatal heart disease. A non-prescription stimulant, ephedra, was also banned after it was learned that it greatly increased chance of heart attack or stroke.

  But even with the removal of these particular ingredients, the cardiac risk associated with diet pills still remains, especially when using over-the-counter pills. Herbal or natural compounds may still contain stimulants and can be as dangerous as any man-made concoction. Consult with a doctor before taking any diet pills.