Reductil is a prescription medicine which contains the active ingredient sibutramine hydrochloride monohydrate, which is a type of anti-obesity medicine. Reductil blocks the nerve cells that release and reabsorb serotonin. This means serotonin levels increase.

Sibutramine is a neurotransmitter reuptake inhibitor that helps control appetite by inhibiting the reuptake of serotonin and as such it decreases appetite. Although it also has antidepressant properties, it was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in November 1997 for the treatment of obesity.

Sibutramine prevents two of these neurotransmitters, noradrenaline and serotonin, from being reabsorbed back into the nerve cells. Noradrenaline and serotonin are responsible for moderating mood and various other processes in the brain. It is thought that sibutramine helps people to lose weight by increasing the amount of noradrenaline and serotonin free to act in the brain. This enhances the feeling of fulfillment from eating, and so makes you feel satisfied after eating less food.

Reductil when used in combination with a reduced-calorie diet and appropriate physical activity, 77 percent of patients achieved weight loss that benefited their health. Reductil is only licensed to aid weight loss in people with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher, and those with a BMI of 27 or higher who also have other obesity related risk factors, such as type 2 diabetes or high cholesterol. It is only prescribed to people in these categories who have had difficulty achieving or maintaining weight loss of more than five per cent of their body weight over three months, using conventional weight loss programmes alone.

You will need to continue with an appropriate diet and exercise programme while taking this medicine, so that you are able to maintain your new weight after you have stopped treatment. Your doctor should give you advice to assist you with this. Your weight should be monitored while you are taking this medicine.