Advantages: An experimental wonder drug, Rimonabant, helps you lose weight, quit smoking and it also helps protect your heart. Trials have shown that 33% of people on Rimonabant lost 10% of body weight and kept their weight down for two years - this is a record, no other diet drug has managed to keep a person's weight down for so long.
The second 33% lost 5% of body weight and kept it down.

As well as keeping you lean, the drug also helps you quit the smoking habit. This will be of great interest for many smokers who are afraid to give up because they say they will put on loads of weight if they do (young female smokers worry about this the most).

Mechanism: There are nerve receptors that exist in the brain and fat cells. These receptors tell the body to overeat (and intake nicotine). Rimonabant blocks the signals these receptors give out - it stops them from telling us to overeat. Overeaters and addicted smokers have very active receptors of this kind. Rimonabant is a selective CB1 endocannabinoid receptor antagonist indicated for the treatment of obesity. It works by blocking endogenous cannabinoid binding to neuronal CB1 receptors. Activation of these receptors by endoegenous cannabinoids, such as anadamide, increases appetite. It is the most advanced endocannabinoid receptor antagonist in clinical development and offers a novel therapeutic approach to appetite control and weight reduction. Sanofi-Aventis filed for regulatory approval with the US FDA and European EMEA in April 2005. In February 2006, however, the FDA declined to issue final approval until a number of (unspecified) issues were resolved. Kill the urge to smoke, stop cocaine addiction and obliterate marijuana and alcohol cravings.