Volvo S60 Concept Car Unveiled

Volvo has unveils the Volvo S60 Concept Car that will be premiered at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in January. Powered by a four-cylinder 1.6-litre petrol engine that features GTDi (Gasoline Turbocharged Direct Injection) technology, Volvo S60 Concept may develops 180 hp and emits 119 g/km of CO2, with a fuel economy of 5.0 l/100 km.

Volvo S60 Concept which will hit the market in 2010, features Collision Warning with Full Auto Brake and pedestrian detection.

Alongside with the premiere of Volvo S60 Concept Car at the NAIAS next year, the company also introduces the latest generation of preventive safety technology.

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2008 Citroen Berlingo in UK

The 2008 Citroen Berlingo will be debuted for the world at the 2008 Commercial Vehicle Show.
The 2008 Citroen Berlingo will be available with a choice between one petrol engine (1.6i 16V with 90hp) and two diesel ones (1.6HDi with 75 hp and 1.6HDi with 90 hp).

The 2008 Citroen Berlingo will go on sale in UK on 5 June, and will come in two versions - L1 and L2. The 2008 Citroen Berlingo prices will start at 10,395 pounds without VAT and delivery.

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Obesity Problems with Acomplia and Battle Chronic Weight

More and more people are turning to pharmaceutical solutions to help them battle chronic weight and obesity problems. While we would all like to be able to control our weight through diet and exercise, many in our society find that they just can’t do it without a helping hand. The pace of our lives means we have to grab whatever food is available to us when we have a free moment and to eat it as fast as we can. We don’t even take the time to stop and think about whether or not we are full. We just eat until it is gone.

We eat without conscience, and we are paying the price. Drug companies are beginning to move closer to an answer. A series of slimming pills have, and are being, developed which work to help your brain know when your body has had enough. These drugs work with the nervous system, turning on certain switches and blocking transmission to others. When the drugs block your body’s neuro- transmissions in the right sequence, they can control your appetite.

Though Acomplia has yet to gain approval from the FDA, it has already given birth to several competitors. Pharmaceutical giants Merck and Pfizer have both entered the marketplace with their own clinical trials of diet pills.

Acomplia, and the newcomers, are having a hard time finding FDA approval as a new kind of drug. They work by blocking receptors in the brain. Called a cannabinoid-1 (CB-1) receptor antagonist, the developers of these drugs are seeking ways to keep you from being hungry. Some block the body’s desire for fatty foods, while other’s block the body’s desire to overeat. In both cases, the drugs are working to combat one of the most destructive problems facing our society; people who use food as a drug.

When people talk about needing comfort food, it is a mental or emotional need that they are meeting. There is no thought to eating for nutritional value. People eat because of the way that it makes them feel. This is destructive behavior, and these weight loss pills work to beat back those cravings.

Merck is currently testing a drug called Taranabant. In extensive Phase II and Phase III clinical trials this drug has proven effective may have demonstrated fewer side effects than Acomplia. Likewise, Pfizer has been testing its own drug that blocks brain receptors. As yet un-named, this drug seems to be following closely in Taranabant’s footsteps of success.

As both drugs near the end of their trials and go before the Food and Drug Administration for approval, their developers are closely watching what is happening with Acomplia’s efforts to get FDA approval. Acomplia, made from the base drug rimonabant, is supposed to be marketed in the US under the name Zimulti. Both Merck and Pfizer are curious to see how well it fares in the eyes of FDA regulators. If Zimulti doesn’t pass, then the two giants may have the market cornered with their own products which might display fewer side effects.

Merck has not yet reported on Phase III of its trial, but interviews with participants leads analysts to believe the drug is being well received. This dramatic reduction in side effects from Acomplia/Zimulti could catapult Taranabant through the FDA process and make it the new household name in weight loss drugs. If this were to happen, it is likely that Pfizer’s product, which seems to be a little bit behind Merck’s in development, will be playing catch up. Initial reports say that both drugs could go before the FDA as soon as next year.

This all spells bad news for the makers of Acomplia/Zimulti. In their most recent attempt at approval, the FDA denied the sale of the drug within the United States citing the need for additional testing and a better understanding of long term side effects. This denial has left some saying that Acomplia won’t be passed by the FDA until at least 2010. If Merck and Pfizer are able to get their own products passed before then, then they will undoubtedly have earned the dominant market share by that time.

The very thing that makes Acomplia work, its ability to alter the operation of neuro- sensors, is what makes it so dangerous. Stories of suicidally severe depression are rampant on the internet and from consumer watchdog groups. Whether or not Acomplia helps people to lose weight is not in question. The questions all circle around how healthy it is for you overall, and the question of mental health is as important in this discussion as is physical. Until these questions are addressed, the future isn’t shining very brightly for Acomplia in the United States.