New weight loss drug aims at fat loss - not muscle loss

One of the primary problems of losing weight is the fact that all weight is not created equal.  When you lose weight you will inevitably lose muscle mass as well.  What if there was a way to tell you body to burn only fat?

Researchers at the Garvin Institute in Sydney, Australia, say they've created a new weight loss drug to do just that. 

In mice, the drug has shown to be an effective tool in changing the signals to the brain that determine what fuel the body is to use for energy.  By stopping certain signals, the body turns to fatty acids rather than protein.  The result? The mice lost body weight while maintaining muscle mass.

This is the opposite of the way traditional weight loss drugs work.  They work to alter the way the brain sends signals to the body in an effort to suppress appetite.

From ABC News, the head of the neuroscience program at the Garvan Institute, Professor Herbert Herzog, says these therapies tend to be ineffective.

"What we've found is that blocking one system that influences appetite and body weight regulation might not be enough to cause a significant change in reducing body weight," he said.

"If you take one signal away, others take over."

The new drug is not being developed for the extremely, or morbidly, obese but, rather, for those that are moderately overweight.  The research suggests that this drug, in conjunction with a normal diet, will yield moderate fat loss and minimal muscle loss.

While the preliminary results are exciting, the drug is still about three years away from human clinical trials.

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