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to reveal the truth, according to the FTC. This enormous proportion reveals the dimensions of this money-generating industry. Consumers in North America spend more than $35 billion each year on weight-loss products.

The FDA investigated 300 weight-loss ads from the radio, television, the Internet, magazines, newspapers, e-mail and direct mail. The FDA report concluded that some ads promised significant results without surgery, diet or exercise. Other companies claimed that taking their product would be enough for a quick weight loss. There was no need to eat less or diet. Just take pills.

Fraudulent schemes
The main frauds:

1. Manufacturers promise that their pills will deliver spectacular results, without any effort or exercise. Diet pills are presented as miracles. Just a few mention the FDA-approved diet pill.

2. They fail to admit completely and honestly the risks and side effects.

Many scams have been revealed so far. Here are a few examples:

* Bentley-Myers and three weight-loss products Zymax, MillinesES (both containing ephedra), and Serotril (containing St. John's wort) were brought under an intense spotlight when the FTC filed a federal court complaint. The FTC alleged that these diet pills caused rapid and substantial weight loss without diet or exercise and with no side effects. An additional charge referred to another dietary supplement, CartazyneDS, containing glucosamine. This was promoted as having the ingredients to cure arthritis and rebuild cartilage in just a few days.

* CortiSlim Lawsuit July 2004 Some CortiSlim TV commercials claimed that the human body is able to manage and normalize weight through Cortisol, the stress hormone. Charging the producer and distributor, public health officials argued that this supplement has no substantiated scientific support.

* Metabolife supplement and brain damages A jury in Houston awarded $7.4 million to a woman who suffered brain damage in a stroke, as a consequence of taking the Metabolife supplement to lose weight. She had been persuaded by commercials that this supplement was safe and had no side effects.

* Mendacious campaigns for the Ephedra-based supplement Trimspa An American hypnotist, Alex Szynalski, and a former Playboy Bunny (Anna Nicole Smith) joined in a Trimspa commercial which was considered "deceptive advertising" by the New Jersey Attorney General. The hypnotist was accused of luring consumers to his Goen Lose Weight Hypnosis seminars and then tempting them to buy the Trimspa supplements he produced.

* Kava Kava stop sales. Health Canada launched a public warning that this herb, found in supplements and sometimes in food is under suspicion. Its consumption was linked to liver disfunction and toxicity. FDA warned that the Kava extract is delivered under many other names which are difficult to find on the label (kava, kava kava, kava-kava, kava root, kava-kava root, kavain, kava pepper, kavapipar, kawa, kawa kawa, kawa pepper, kawapfeffer, maori kava, rhizoma di kava-kava, ava, ava pepper, ava root, awa, gea, gi, intoxicating pepper, intoxicating long pepper, kao, Piper methysticum, Macropiper Latifolium, Piper inebrians, Malohu, maluk, meruk, milik, kew, Rauschpfeffer, sakau, tonga, Wurzelstock, yagona, yangona, yaqona, yongona).

* The invisible Zoller laboratories. Intrigued by the name of diet pills suggested to be taken by Britney Spears, somebody tried to identify the producer of Zantrex 3. Zoller laboratories, apparently producing Zantrex 3, were not listed in any database. They were just a firm created by Basic Research, the company distributing Zantrex 3, for fear that its real name would sound too scientific to the public. The confusion induced by this phantom company nevertheless affected the credibility of the company.

About The Author
Dana Scripca writes for http://www.dietpillscentral.com where you can find more information about Diet Pills. Please feel free to use this article in your Newsletter or on your website. If you use this article, please include the resource box and send a brief message to let me know where it appeared. danascri@gmail.com

Depression Could Be Second Largest Illness By 2010!
by Jasdeep

World Health Organization states one out of four people worldwide suffer from various forms of mental, behavioral and neurological disorders. Are you one of them?

It has also been estimated that depression could be the second largest illness by 2010, keeping in mind its pace at which it is affecting people. Here are some statistics: Experts in the field of mental health claim that more than half a billion people worldwide suffer from psychiatric disorders, which include abuse owing to drugs and alcohol, epilepsy, dementia, schizophrenia and stress related disorders. To break this up, we have around 400 million people suffering from anxiety disorders, 340 million from mood disorders, 250 million cases of personality disorders, 100 million cases of alcohol dependence and 45 million cases of schizophrenia.

The definition of health as stated by World Health Organization includes physical, social, emotional and logical well being. Out of these four parameters, three are related to mental health. So, now you know how important mental health is--yet we tend to ignore it the most!

Most of us, especially ones who are suffering from mental illness, believe that depression and other mental disorders are not curable. Again, specialists and doctors in this field believe differently. With proper aid, guidance and medicines treatment of mental health is very much possible.

Studies at Harvard have proven that women are more vulnerable to depression than men. For every man suffering from depression, there are two women, and one out of eight women will have an episode of major depression at some point in her life. Some factors responsible for this gender difference are difference are: genes, stress, pregnancy, acknowledgement of symptoms, and premenstrual disturbances. Heredity accounts for up to 50 percent of the risk of depression.

Depression, therefore, is basically a psychological disorder involving your body, mood, feelings, and even thoughts. Depression causes a change in the way you think and feel about yourself and others, how you behave. Left untreated, depression could last for months or even years.

Know the symptoms and treatment of depression at
http://www.weightloss-health.com/symptomsdepression.htm

About The Author
Jasdeep : for http://www.weightloss-health.com your complete and most comprehensive family guide on Health. Also get free tips and tricks on weight loss, diet and muscle Building at http://www.weightloss-health.com If you wish to reproduce the above article you are welcome to do so, provided the article is reproduced in its entirety, including this resource box and LIVE link to our website. webmaster@weightloss-health.com