Pill May Slash Body Weight By a Quarter

A drug that cut the body weight of mice by 25% is raising hopes for humans, the Daily Telegraph reports. The rodents lost 42% of their fat mass after a week, with even more powerful effects seen over a month. The pill combines hormones that have been found to weaken appetite and reduce weight. More research is required before testing can begin on humans, researchers say.

“No single agent has proven to be capable of reducing body weight more than 5%-10% in the obese population,” says one of the Indiana University researchers. “Combination therapies using multiple drugs simultaneously may represent the preferred pharmaceutical approach.” Other combinations may be better than this one, he notes. (More anti obesity drugs stories.)