Introduction: The aim of the study was to investigate the long term effect of diet, exercise and intermittent treatment of cimetidine on body weight and maintenance of weight lost during treatment.
Material and methods: Fifty women and five men who had completed a 8 week randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of cimetidine for weight loss were invited to participate in an open, non-randomized follow-up study of 42 months. The study was designed to compare weight loss and/or weight gain in subjects who, dependent on their level of motivation, volunteered to participate in an intervention or non-intervention group. In the intervention group the subjects were treated with cimetidine for 8 weeks twice a year, followed a diet restriction and performed regular exercise. In the non-intervention group the subjects had no behavioral treatment. Twenty two subjects volunteered to participate in the intervention program whereas 33 subjects volunteered to participate in the non-intervention group.
Results: In the intervention group, non-significant reductions in body weight (1.9±5.5 kg), BMI (0.6±1.7 kg/m2), body fat% (1.7±2.9) and waist circumference (2.1±5.9 cm) were found. In the non-intervention group there was a significant increase in body weight (7.5±5.3 kg), BMI (2.6±1.8 kg/m2), body fat% (3.0±3.3) and waist circumference (6.7±5.1 cm). Among the group of subjects initially treated with cimetidine for 8 weeks and who followed a subsequent intervention of additional 42 months (n=16), there was a 15.1% weight loss. Among the group initially treated with placebo for 8 weeks and who volunteered to participate in the non-intervention group (n=22), there was a weight gain of 8.6%. In conclusion, the combination of diet restriction, regular exercise and intermittent treatment of cimetidine appears to have long term effects on body weight and maintenance of weight loss.

Keywords: cimetidine, weight maintenance, body fat, Body Weight