The new study shows that diet pills are unsafe for people of all ages, especially teenagers because the pills interfere with their systems and result in nutritional deficiencies, particularly of iron and calcium.
The study revealed that diet pills often contain ingredients such as phentermine, orlistat and sibutramine, substances that may keep the pounds away by messing with the body’s natural regulations but they come with a host of side effects, including increased heart rate, fainting, unusual bleeding and heart attacks.
The United States Food and Drug Administration, FDA, reported in 2009 that 69 different diet pills contained substances that could cause seizures and strokes.
Prescription weight loss pills or diet pills, are sometimes prescribed to a patient as an additional tool in the treatment for weight loss.
Weight loss pills are advertised as the quick solution in shedding pounds and obtaining the perfect figure and the promise of an instant fix has teenagers taking diet pills and disregarding the warnings of health experts against them.
Similarly, a study by the Canadian Pediatric Society in 2004 said: “In growing children and teenagers, even a marginal reduction in energy intake can be associated with growth deceleration.”
Experts have consistently warned of the threats diet pills can cause and in extreme cases, they can rip apart the stomach lining and even lead to death.
Reacting to the development, Dr. Lloyd D. Johnston, of the University of Michigan in the U.S. said when he first began analysing the use of diet pills among high schoolers, he found a common ingredient was linked to causing strokes.
Although it has been removed from pills since the 1980s, he said today’s pills are no less different in the risks they pose.
