Common treatments for overweight and obesity include losing weight through healthy eating, being more physically active, and making other changes to your usual habits. Weight-management programs may help some people lose weight or keep from regaining lost weight.
Some people who have obesity are unable to lose enough weight to improve their health or are unable to keep from regaining weight. In such cases, a doctor may consider adding other treatments, including weight-loss medicines, weight-loss devices, or bariatric surgery.
Experts recommend losing 5 to 10 percent of your body weight within the first 6 months of treatment. [10] If you weigh 200 pounds, this means losing as little as 10 pounds.
Losing 5 to 10 percent of your weight may help lower your chances of developing health problems related to overweight and obesity and improve health problems related to overweight and obesity, such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels.
Healthy eating plan and regular physical activity
Following a healthy eating plan with fewer calories is often the first step in trying to treat overweight and obesity.
People who are overweight or have obesity should also start a regular physical activity when they begin their healthy eating plan. Being active may help you use calories. Regular physical activity may help you stay at a healthy weight.
Phentermine acts as a metabolic stimulant and appetite suppressant. It was first approved by the FDA in 1959 but got a bad rap in the 1990s after a spate of overdoses led the FDA to pull approval of the controversial weight-loss drug Fen-Phen, which was a combination of phentermine and fenfluramine, an appetite suppressant that could cause heart valve damage.
Although Fen-Phen was discontinued, phentermine wasn't it was considered dangerous only in combination with fenfluramine.
Today, some endocrinologists and weight loss specialists prescribe phentermine sold under several brand names Lomaira, Suprenza, and Adipex-P to help patients lose weight.
Bariatric Surgeons
But still, for some patients, medications aren't the answer either, and for these individuals, a more permanent intervention may be needed. Bariatric surgery is an option available to certain obese people who meet specific criteria, and a surgeon who specializes in these procedures may be able to help you.
Dr. Anthony Petrick, a bariatric surgeon with Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pennsylvania says that "metabolic surgery is a more accurate description" for surgical interventions used to treat obesity because they aren't intended solely to reduce a person's body weight but to also address comorbidities of obesity such as diabetes and hypertension.
Not every obese person will be eligible for surgery, and doctors typically use BMI to determine whether someone should be considering this approach.
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"They need to have a BMI of greater than 35 and one poorly controlled comorbidity related to obesity," he says. Alternatively, "if they don't have a comorbidity, then a BMI of 40 or greater" and otherwise good health can qualify a person for bariatric or metabolic surgery.
The good news is that researchers and doctors are continuing to learn more about it, and new treatment options are emerging. We now know many genetic, biological, developmental, behavioral, and environmental factors contribute to weight gain and the development of obesity.
Yet, there’s still a widespread belief that obesity is a lifestyle choice that people develop because they choose to eat too much or exercise too little. People who have obesity are stigmatized and stereotyped in many aspects of their lives sometimes even at the place they go to seek help.
Weight bias in healthcare
“Studies find that weight bias is common in healthcare,” says W. Scott Butsch, MD, Director of Obesity Medicine.
While medical professionals strive to provide the best possible care for their patients, studies have shown that some of them also carry negative attitudes toward patients who have obesity, or feel out of their element when it comes to treating it.
Those attitudes can affect patient care, Dr. Butsch says.
Medical professionals as a whole need to be better educated about the biology of obesity, he asserts, as well as the factors that play into it and their own biases which they may or may not realize they have.
Having obesity heightens a person’s risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and cancer, so it’s an appropriate and important topic for doctors to discuss with their patients. But patients deserve the conversation to be thorough and compassionate.
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