Obesity is a growing epidemic in this country, and the researchers, scientists, and the medical community have been working hard to combat the disease. Now, a recent study has revealed that a new drug may help in this fight.

Researchers out of Texas are reporting the results of a remarkable study with potentially groundbreaking and significant implications against the battle against obesity. An experimental drug, called Adipotide, has been manufactured and designed to destroy fat cells, and it appears to be helping a test group of monkeys lose weight.

The goal of the researchers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer center wasn't necessarily for weight loss. Instead, they were looking for a way to get rid of excess fat in prostate cancer patients who were overweight to see if it would improve the effectiveness of their cancer treatment.

However, what they found is that Adipotide helped monkeys who exhibited "couch-like" tendencies and habits lose weight. Eleven percent of total body weight was lost by the test group of monkeys on average.

Adipotide works by identifying and targeting the blood vessels necessary to keep fat cells alive and well. If these blood cells are killed off, the fat cells can get reabsorbed by the body, and also metabolized.

The researchers did note that when monkeys were stopped from taking the drug, the weight came right back on. That said, the drug worked on every monkey they tested in the group, not just some monkeys.

The successs of Adipotide in monkeys may mean that testing in humans is on the horizon.