DOCTOR’S NOTE
Men lose more weight by dieting while women shed more pounds with diet pills, research shows.
Dangerously overweight women given fat-loss drugs tended to lose more than men in two trials involving 13,000 participants. But men lost more weight than women by dieting in 10 out of 11 studies comparing genders.
Dr Samantha Hocking, of the University of Sydney, said: “Our findings suggest females lose more weight than males in pharmacological weight loss interventions. This finding is contrary to most dietary regimens where, if there is a gender difference detected, males tend to lose more weight than females.”
Dr Hocking said increased effectiveness of the drugs for women is likely to be due to how they move within the body.
The findings may improve anti-obesity treatments.