1 out of 45 people take anorectic

Anorectic agents have been prescribed to one out of every 45 Koreans over the last 10 months, and 90 percent of those were women, according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Tuesday. / Gettyimagebank

By Kim Jae-heun

Anorectic agents have been prescribed to one out of every 45 Koreans over the last 10 months, and 90 percent of those were women, according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Tuesday.

An anorectic is a type of agent that stimulates the brain to make a person feel full or less hungry.

Some 1.16 million people or 2.2 percent of the total population were prescribed these appetite suppressants.

People in their 30s took up 30.3 percent of the total.

An anorectic agent is recommended to be taken alone for safety reasons, but 10 percent of the 1.16 million were prescribed more than one agent. It is also advised not to be taken for more than four weeks but 30 percent had the medicine prescribed for longer periods.

Taking anorectics for a long period of time can cause side effects such as pulmonary hypertension and serious cardiac disorder. So the ministry issued a guideline for the safe use of the agents to doctors.

According to ministry data on 4.97 million prescriptions of psychotropic drugs, which can also suppress appetite, were also given for medical purposes between last July and April this year. The number was about 7.3 percent of 15.97 million patients who were prescribed these for medical purposes, including zolpidem and propofol which are used in treating insomnia.