Meridia is a medication used to help you loose weight and keep the lost weight from returning. This medication is helpful to persons who are obese and have a problem to control their eating habits.
Meridia is supposed to increase certain chemical activities of chemicals called norepinephrine and serotonin and dopamine in the brain. This activity in the brain suppresses the appetite of a person considerably.

Meridia is most effective when a strict diet and exercise program is also observed. A person can loose about 5% of their body weight in a period of 4-6 months with the help of Meridia.Many weight loss medication are in the market that help people to fight the battle of the bulge.  Meridia is one of the better known brands. Long term uses of Meridia can cause a drug dependency.

A physician diagnoses the patient as having an obesity related problem if the body mass of the person exceeds at least 30 BMI and may have condition such as diabetes or high cholesterol...
Meridia was approved by the FDA in 1997.

The other drug which is almost the same as Meridia is Xenical. Xenical is supposed to reduce the total fat absorption by 30%.The indigestible fat is eliminated as waste. An over the counter version of Xenical called Alli –r became available in June 2007. These two medications are only different in strength...