Some products sold on the Internet for weight loss are harmful to health. The ANSM has just suspended the marketing of some of them and advises people who have them to report them to their pharmacist.
- In 2015, overweight or obesity affected 16% of boys and 18% of girls aged 6 to 17.
- In 2020, according to the World Health Organization, overweight and obesity affect more than 2 billion people worldwide.
In France, 17% of the adult population is obese, according to the Ministry of Solidarity and Health. A percentage that represents more than 8 million people. This progressive chronic disease can range from simple obesity to severe and/or complex obesity. In both cases, it constitutes a major risk factor for several other pathologies such as cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, etc. To lose weight, some people try several methods: diets, physical activity, gastric band break… But also other solutions, sometimes offered on the Internet, such as injectable products to fight obesity composed of phosphatidylcholine and/ or sodium deoxycholate… But these have just been hanging by the National Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (ANSM). Their dangerousness is called into question.
Products that have not obtained marketing authorization
Phosphatidylcholine and sodium deoxycholate are two substances sold by commercial sites to fight obesity. These are advertised as being able to eliminate localized fat or fat cells. “We inform people or professionals who wish to order them on the internet that these products are potentially dangerous to health and that no clinical study has been conducted to demonstrate their effectiveness.indicated the ANSM in his press release. Contrary to the claims of the websites that market them, these products cannot be considered as drugs because they have not obtained marketing authorization. The health body recommends that people who have such products not to use them and to bring them back to their pharmacist so that he can throw them in a specific container.
Dangerous side effects
In 2012, technique called “adipocyte lysis” – whereby phosphatidylcholine and sodium deoxycholate are injected into patients – had already been banned by the Ministry of Health. The reasons given were sanitary. Indeed, these products were suspected of producing adverse effects such as skin infections, extensive hematomas or even necrosis, ie destruction of certain cells. “These complications have for some been followed by disabling sequelae (chronic pain, reduced mobility, etc.) and aestheticdevelops the ANSM. If you observe an undesirable effect after adipocyte lysis, we invite you to quickly make an appointment with your doctor explaining the act performed, so that he can assess the risks to your health.
Eat less and exercise to lose weight
Losing weight takes time, especially for people with obesity. But whatever the objective to be achieved, the advice remains the same: an individual’s daily caloric balance must be negative by a few hundred calories. In other words, that the body expends more calories than those supplied to it by food. But be careful, it should not be done too drastically because if the patient deprives himself too much, he is more likely to abandon his diet or regain weight quickly once it is over. Finally, it is also very important to practice regular physical activity to lose weight. Two to three sports sessions per week and at least 10,000 steps per day.
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