HCG: the magic-bullet dream never dies

Question
CAN YOU ENLIGHTEN ME ABOUT THE HCG PROGRAMME BEING USED FOR WEIGHT LOSS.  I HAVE READ ABOUT IT AND AM CONSIDERING DOING THE PROGRAMME AS I NEED TO LOOOSE ABOUT 70LBS.  IS IT SAFE? ARE THERE ANY SIDE EFFECTS?  ARE THERE ANY SUPPLEMENTS I SHOULD USE TO HELP WTH WEIGHT LOSS LIKE VIT B12 AND VIT C?

Answer
The weight loss programs combining restrictive diets and injections of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) was suggested in 1954 (1) but its effectiveness has never been clearly established. Nevertheless, the method has been used in commercial weight clinics throughout the United States (2)

The claims in favor of this treatment are less hunger; spot-weight loss from the hips and legs, and positive  emotional outcome such as less depression during food deprivation. However, several double-blind controlled clinical trials failed to show difference between group treated with HCG and placebo.

"We feel that the 20 year history of the use of HCG in the treatment of obesity should
come to an end because injections of placebo appear to be equally effective in all respects,' concluded Dr S. Came in 1961 (3) -- obviously in vain since the HCG business continue to intrigue and attract the desperate. The magic-bullet dream never dies.

Recent biochemical research demonstrated that physiological concentrations of HCG _stimulate_ the growth of precursors of human fat cells suggesting that this effect of HCG  contribute to _increased_ fat storage (4). Actually, this is what HCG has been created for - to promote some safety fat pads during pregnancy.

SOURCES

1. Simeons ATW: The action of chorionic gonadotropin in the
obese. Lancet 2: 946-947, 1954

2. Crout JR: Chroionic gonadotropin. Federal Register 39:
42397-42403, 1974

3. Came S: The action of chorionic gonadotropin in the obese.
Lancet 2:1282-1284, 1961

4. E Santos, M Dieudonne, M Leneveu, R Pecquery, V Serazin and Y Giudicelli. In vitro effects of chorionic gonadotropin hormone on human adipose development. Journal of Endocrinology (2007) 194, 313-325  

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