do diet pills really work?
Diet drugs have come a long way since the addictive amphetamines of the 1950s. And while each new generation of skinny pills has so far proven more dangerous than effective remember fen-phen and ephedra? experts continue their search for a safe diet pill that works. But while these pills offer hope for trimming America’s ever-expanding waistline, experts caution that there’s no miracle potion out there to automatically shrink you back into your college jeans. “These diet drugs work only if you also change your lifestyle, and that means following the same old advice of dieting and exercising,” says Caroline Apovian, M.D., of the Nutrition and Weight Management Center at Boston University Medical Center. The medications also come with some real health risks, ranging from nausea and diarrhea to hypertension and depression. Here’s the scoop on the five newest weight-loss pills on the market. Alli (orlistat) THE SKINNY: Created originally as the prescription drug Xenical, orlistat is now av
