Dec 27, 2024
I am Dr. Mollie Cecil with UHC Medical Weight Management, and I am here today to provide you with ideas and tips concerning your healthy weight.
1). Why do some people find that no matter how much they work on their diet and exercise, they cannot lose weight?
Many people will find that no matter how much they work on their diet and exercise, they cannot lose weight. This can happen for a variety of reasons. First, patients can begin experiencing significant hunger that prevents them from decreasing their food intake. Patients can also have underlying issues with how their body processes food, particularly carbohydrates, which can change their body’s energy burn rate. Some patients have a great deal of weight to lose beyond what we can typically expect to see lost through diet and activity changes. This is where medication and surgery can be helpful.
2). Tell us more about how obesity medications help people to lose weight?
Obesity medications help people lose weight by affecting their appetite or how their body processes nutrients. The most common medicines in the US are Qsymia (phentermine combined with topiramate), Contrave (naltrexone combined with bupropion), and the new injectable weight loss medications.
Medications with phentermine, topiramate, naltrexone, and bupropion work by decreasing hunger signals in the brain. This helps people feel full longer and have less appetite, so it is easier to decrease their food intake. These medications help people lose up to 10% of their body weight.
The new injectable medications, GLP1 or GIP medications, work in several ways. First, they decrease hunger signals in the brain. Second, they cause your stomach to empty slowly, so you stay full longer after meals. They also can help with cravings and help your body metabolize food more efficiently. On average, these medications help people lose about 15-20% of their body weight.
3). When might surgery be appropriate?
Weight loss surgeries have several types. These are for people who need to lose very large amounts of weight, such as 30% or more of their body weight. Weight loss surgeries work by decreasing the size of the stomach, changing how your body absorbs food in the GI tract, or both.
At our practice, we only provide medication, diet, and exercise counseling services. We do not perform surgeries here, but we can evaluate patients to see if they will be served well by surgical approaches to their obesity.
This content was originally posted on the WDTV News website here.
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