Is There a Pill That Reduces Both Belly Fat and Blood Pressure?

[JayR]

From New Scientist:

"It sounds like the perfect remedy for modern life: a pill that simultaneously reduces both belly fat and blood pressure. And it may already exist."

Has anyone ever heard of a patient on ACE inhibitors report they are losing belly fat?

I'm only slightly interested in this.

 

[Moonbear]

First, a moderation note: As of the time of this posting, Jase doesn't have enough posts to include a link in his/her post. If I receive one via PM, I will help edit it in (or perhaps Jase will have enough posts by then to append one him/herself).

Second, since we don't yet have a link to the original article, I can only answer generally based on anecdotal experience...the few people I've known who take ACE inhibitors to control blood pressure have not lost any fat. To the contrary, they have continued gaining weight. But, they could be exceptions, or maybe it was an overall weight gain, but not so much in the belly (I wasn't chasing after them with tape measures). But, I'm curious to see the full article.

 

[Astronuc]

I believe it is this article:

Pill burns fat without dieting or exercise

It sounds like the perfect remedy for modern life: a pill that simultaneously reduces both belly fat and blood pressure. And it may already exist.

High blood pressure is often treated with drugs called ACE inhibitors, which block angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE). ACE usually constricts blood vessels and so raises blood pressure. It is also expressed in fat cells, and previous studies had suggested that it might trigger fat accumulation.

To investigate exactly what ACE does, Michael Mathai of the Howard Florey Institute in Melbourne, Australia, and colleagues engineered mice to lack the ACE gene. These mice turned out to weigh 20% less than normal mice and had 50 to 60% less body fat, especially in the abdomen. The mice also cleared excess sugar from the blood faster, making them less prone to diabetes.

 

[Moonbear]

Ah, done with knockout mice, not with an actual ACE inhibitor. That's always questionable, because you don't know what other developmental stages have been affected by the gene knockout that could be responsible for the reduced fat (and, really, it's not quite correct to say it "reduces" body fat, since it sounds like those mice never actually put on that fat). That's a different scenario than reducing fat in someone who already is overweight. I'm not quite sure that abdominal fat in mice translates well to abdominal fat in people either.

 

[Astronuc]

What bothers me is a headline that would seem to infer "We have a pill! Diet and exercise not necessary."

Preventative health care (through proper diet and exercise) should be emphasized/encouraged, rather than medical treatment after the fact. IIRC, problems such as diabetes are irreversible, i.e. once the damage is done, there is ongoing treatment without a cure necessarily.

 

[Moonbear]

What bothers me is a headline that would seem to infer "We have a pill! Diet and exercise not necessary."

That's New Scientist for you. They have a strong tendency toward overly hyped headlines. The stories are interesting and informative, but the casual reader does come away thinking something much more sensational has been discovered than really has.

 

[JayR]

It is a sad fact that a quick fix is more appealing than preventative action.

And that New Scientist is the extent of the tabloid science writers research.

I was going for a few cheap laughs posting the headline.

I should have posted in the General discussion forum as the misuse of research findings to grab our attention is worthy of consideration, the headline itself probably wasn't.