FirstMed Consulting Blog

It was announced earlier this week that Rimonabant (brand name Acomplia) will be made available to overweight or obese patients on the NHS. Acomplia is already used by thousands of Britons, and, coupled with exercise; it could help patients lose up to 10% of their body weight.

Firstmed has been supplying Acomplia for several months and it’s going well. Now the availability of Acomplia on the NHS is more good news for patients for whom orlistat and sibutramine are not effective.

Dr David Haslam, the clinical director of the National Obesity Forum, said that he welcomed its approval for NHS use and said “This is a very good drug, and there are very many people who have tried everything else, including other drugs, with little success, who might benefit from it.”

It is also important to note that whilst Acomplia may be right for some patients, it is not the long-term solution and may have potentially serious side-effects. Doctors have been told not to give it to patients with a history of major depression, and to be alert for new symptoms of depression in patients taking the drug.

The Nice guidance recommends rimonabant “as an addition to diet and exercise for adults who are obese or overweight and who have had an inadequate response to, are intolerant of or are contraindicated to orlistat and sibutramine”.

For more information on Acomplia visit our FAQ page

Everywhere you look in supermarkets these days you will see the words ‘five a day ‘. This is basically a campaign to encourage people to eat enough nutrients to maintain a healthy body. What you eat and drink influences every aspect of your life, down to how you perform in the bedroom. Just like an athlete, your diet can hinder or enhance your performance. Male impotence is caused from lack of blood flow around the body. Regardless of whether or not you are taking oral treatments such as Viagra, Cialis or Levitra, by eating properly you can reduce your chances of suffering from erectile dysfunction. Here your 5 a day tips to consider as a supplement to enhance your treatment

5 Tips for a Better Erection

Avoid Animal Products: Lower your intake of animal products! You should avoid foods with high cholesterol including foods from animals or animal products.

Go Green : Vegetables contain high amounts of antioxidants and micro nutrients, which are critically important for normal semen quality and reproductive function. Always choose whole grains, fresh, unrefined and unprocessed foods. Avoid fast food, canned, and frozen foods. Consider these delicious food choices to help with impotence: Pears, Blueberries, Apples (with skin), Strawberries, Peas, Baked Potatoes, Spaghetti (whole grain), oatmeal.

Water: The list is endless for the benefits of water. However, still most people do not get enough water each day. Water is a natural detox for the body and could be a factor for curing impotence.

Reduce Alcohol Intake: Most men will be familiar with the term “brewer’s droop” - a temporary form of alcohol related erectile dysfunction. You don’t have to give up drinking altogether, just avoid large quantities. Blood alcohol content > .06 will lead to loss of sensation, inability to reach orgasm, and temporary impotence.

Stop Smoking: It is thought that smoking is responsible for ED in 120,000 men in the UK aged between 30 and 49. Enough said really

Weight-Loss

In today’s climate of fast food, easy transport and long hours in the office (lets not also forget great TV), a lot of people are finding it difficult to keep their weight within the healthy range. In fact, the UK has the fastest growing rate of obesity in the world and this trend shows no sign of slowing down.

Weight loss treatments, dieting advice, exercise programmes and weight loss medication have become a huge industry in this climate but knowing where to start can be tricky. Everywhere you look there are advertisements for the new fad diet, new wonder diet pills, fat burning milkshakes so and so forth. Of course there are treatments that will work for some and not for others but whichever treatment you opt for a good strategy is always important to help you lose weight and keep it off.

You should think of weight loss in terms of permanently changing your eating habits, your exercise regime - your lifestyle. To lose weight successfully there is no one thing that you can do. There are a combination of factors that have to be addressed to reach your weight loss goals. You will need a strong desire to lose weight, you will need a good weight loss program that incorporates a healthy diet and a good exercise program. For some people, the most irreplaceable aid in this situation is weight loss medication such Acomplia. Acomplia can be part of a sensible and sustainable way for overweight patients to lose weight, and to maintain a healthy weight on a long-term basis.

Being the right weight has a positive effect on wellbeing but also on our health, as being the wrong weight can cause a range of medical problems. So I say put all the failures of the past behind you and start doing something about it now, and find out what is going to be the best way to lose weight.

The Firstmed blog was neglected over the last few months due to the fact that we were in the process of expanding our service. But now it’s back and ready to provide up to date information and interesting tidbits about the world of online health and the treatment of common medical issues.

Buying medication online can be tricky. Recognising the benefit Firstmed’s online consultation services has had in providing treatment for impotence and hair loss, we decided to expand our service to include the treatment of a broader range of lifestyle related medical issues. Using the services of our qualified doctors and pharmacists, Firstmed will now be offering weight loss treatments (Acomplia and Xenical), aids to quit smoking (Champix), Intrinsa patches for low libido in women and protection against the flu in the form of Tamiflu.

Over the coming weeks I’ll be discussing issues surrounding these new conditions