Obesity increases the risk of many severe diseases and health complications, including heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, respiratory problems, and sleep apnea. Obesity treatment often involves dietary and lifestyle changes, weight loss medicines, and surgery. Click https://houseofaesthetix.com/ to learn more.
Medications recently approved by the FDA, such as tripeptides, can help patients lose weight and improve their overall health. They work best when combined with other tools.
Some people find that prescription weight loss medications, a healthy diet, and exercise help them reach their weight goals. But these drugs should be used with care. They’re not a long-term solution to obesity and can sometimes cause side effects that may be serious. These include gastrointestinal tract problems such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea; changes in blood sugar levels (including high levels of triglycerides); and heart rhythm disturbances.
Newer medications target specific hunger receptors in the brain to promote weight loss. These include phentermine/topiramate (Qsymia), lorcaserin (Belviq), and naltrexone/bupropion (Belsomra, Reductil) — which are available with a doctor’s prescription. Lorcaserin targets appetite suppressant receptors in the brain that fatty foods activate, which can help reduce calorie intake. Naltrexone and bupropion are antidepressants that, when taken with a low dose of phentermine, promote dopamine release in the brain, which also helps suppress appetite.
The older generation of medications, including fen-phen (fenfluramine and dexfenfluramine), sibutramine (Meridia), and rimonabant (AstraZeneca’s Rimonabant), work to reduce appetite by blocking certain receptors in the brain that signal feeling full. While they don’t cause significant weight loss, these older drugs can help people lose 5% to 10% of their body weight, which lowers their risk for health conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure.
Many prescription medications must be taken regularly, and some require a long-term commitment. A doctor will determine if you’re a good candidate for them by examining your medical history and current medications. These medications aren’t for everyone and can pose health risks, including the risk of kidney problems, thyroid C-cell tumors, gallbladder disease, pancreatitis, and pregnancy complications.
Bariatric surgery is a powerful tool for helping you lose weight and overcome health problems related to obesity. It can help cure diabetes, high blood pressure, and severe joint pain and may prevent future health problems such as heart disease and cancer. The three most common types of surgery are gastric bypass, sleeve gastrectomy, and gastric banding. These procedures change the anatomy of your stomach and digestive tract to make you eat less and feel full sooner.
It would be best to try to lose weight by changing your eating and exercise habits before your doctor recommends weight loss surgery. Your team will review your BMI and other factors to determine if you’re a good candidate for surgery. They’ll look for emotional or behavioral risk factors affecting your ability to follow your treatment plan.
During weight loss surgery, you’ll be under general anesthesia. Typically, surgeons will make 4 to 6 small cuts in your belly. Then, they’ll insert thin tools and a scope attached to a camera that projects images onto a video monitor. The surgery usually takes 2 to 4 hours.
Once your surgeon closes the incisions in your stomach and intestines, they’ll put you back on a liquid diet for a few days. Then, you’ll start eating a soft or pureed diet and gradually move to regular foods. Before surgery, your team will discuss your expectations and explain the risks and benefits of the procedure.
Your surgeon will discuss your weight history, including previous dieting and exercise plans. They’ll also consider mood disorders such as depression, anxiety, or bipolar disorder, which can interfere with your ability to stick with new eating and exercise habits. Alcohol and drug use is also associated with poor results.
Before your surgery, you must complete a detailed medical history and submit an insurance application. Most insurers require a physician’s approval before approving the procedure. Depending on your insurance company, you may need to wait six to 12 weeks for an authorization decision. If you are not approved for the surgery, your doctor can suggest alternatives that your policy may cover.
Behavioral therapy is a powerful tool for changing how you think, act, and feel. It’s a form of psychotherapy that addresses emotional issues that may cause overeating and weight gain, such as depression or anxiety. It can also help you learn better coping skills so you don’t turn to food for comfort.
Intensive behavioral therapy is an important part of weight loss treatment. It helps people lose weight and keep it off in the long term. It’s a comprehensive program that includes intensive group and individual sessions and education on nutrition and physical activity. It also helps patients set goals and make lifestyle changes. It’s important to find a therapist with experience in this type of treatment.
Many of these programs are expensive, and insurance doesn’t cover them. In addition, they require significant time commitments and can be difficult to access. To be reimbursed by Medicare, these programs must meet several requirements and undergo a lengthy application process.
In the past, most intensive weight loss programs were limited to one-on-one sessions with a therapist. However, these sessions often need to be improved to help patients maintain their newfound habits. Now, there is a new model of treatment called personalized cognitive-behavioral therapy for obesity (CBT-OB) that provides more intensive and individualized behavioral counseling. This multi-session program addresses the main mechanisms that previous research has shown negatively influence treatment discontinuation and weight loss maintenance.
CBT-OB involves a series of six modules that include specific strategies and procedures, such as goal setting, self-monitoring, stimulus control, contingency management, behavioral substitution, and problem-solving skills. It can be adapted to each patient’s needs and delivered in a range of settings, including residential programs.
A recent study has shown that intensive behavioral therapy improves short-term and long-term outcomes for overweight adults who have diabetes or are at risk of developing diabetes. The results suggest that a combination of intensive behavioral therapy and weight loss medications can lead to greater sustained weight loss and improved metabolic health in patients with diabetes.
Exercise offers a variety of health-related benefits, including a reduced risk of chronic disease and improved cardiovascular health. It can also indirectly help with weight loss by reducing stress, which often triggers overeating, especially high-calorie foods and sugary drinks.
In addition, a regular exercise program can improve sleep quality and reduce fatigue, making it easier to stick to a healthy diet. When choosing an exercise program, it’s important to choose activities that you enjoy so that you can commit to them for months or even years. That can include picking up a team sport such as basketball if you want competition, group exercise classes like yoga or CrossFit if you are social, or simply taking daily walks or jogs if you prefer the peace of being outdoors.
The impact of exercise on weight loss is well established. To lose weight, you must burn more calories than you consume, and exercise helps with that process by burning excess calories. However, it is not a standalone treatment and is most effective when used with dietary changes that ensure consistent caloric deficits over time.
For several reasons, weight loss outcomes from exercise could be more consistent and better than expected. First, the exercises most effective at helping people lose weight tend to be higher-intensity workouts. That may be because higher-intensity workouts require more energy, which burns more calories. Regardless, it is generally best for people to start with lower-intensity exercise and work their way up gradually.
It’s also important to remember that not all exercises are safe for everyone, and some people may need to modify their exercise routine or seek professional guidance before they can begin working out. It’s best to err on the side of caution at the beginning to prevent injury or burnout and to always check with your doctor before starting a new exercise plan. For example, those with significant joint or back problems may need to plan their exercise regimen more carefully.