OBESITY (A Threat To Healthy Life) Part-IV

OBESITY

How is obesity treated?

If you’re obese and haven’t been able to lose weight on your own, medical help is available. Start with your family physician who may be able to refer you to a weight specialist in your area.

Your doctor may also want to work with you as part of a team helping you lose weight. That team might include a dietitian, therapist, and/or other healthcare staff.

Your doctor will work with you on making lifestyle changes. Sometimes, they may recommend medications or weight loss surgery as well.

• Lifestyle and behavior changes

Your healthcare team can educate you on better food choices and help develop a healthy eating plan that works for you. A structured exercise program and increased daily activity — up to 300 minutes a week — will help build up your strength, endurance, and metabolism.

Counseling or support groups may also identify unhealthy triggers and help you cope with any anxiety, depression, or emotional eating issues.

• Medical weight loss

Your doctor may also prescribe certain prescription weight loss medications in addition to healthy eating and exercise plans. Medications are usually prescribed only if other methods of weight loss haven’t worked and if you have a BMI of 27 or more in addition to obesity-related health issues.

Prescription weight loss medications either prevent the absorption of fat or suppress appetite. These drugs can have unpleasant side effects. For example, the drug orlistat (Xenical) can lead to oily and frequent bowel movements, bowel urgency, and gas. Your doctor will monitor you closely while you’re taking these medications.

• Weight loss surgery

Weight loss surgery (commonly called “bariatric surgery”) requires a commitment from patients that they will change their lifestyle.

These types of surgery work by limiting how much food you can comfortably eat or by preventing your body from absorbing food and calories. Sometimes they do both.

Weight loss surgery isn’t a quick fix. It’s major surgery and can have serious risks. After surgery, patients will need to change how they eat and how much they eat or risk getting sick.

Candidates for weight loss surgery will have a BMI of 40 or more, or have a BMI of 35 to 39.9 along with serious obesity-related health problems.

Patients will often have to lose weight prior to undergoing surgery. Additionally, they will normally undergo counseling to ensure that they’re both emotionally prepared for this surgery and willing to make the necessary lifestyle changes that it will require.

Surgical options include:

• Gastric bypass surgery, which creates a small pouch at the top of your stomach that connects directly to your small intestine. Food and liquids go through the pouch and into the intestine, bypassing most of the stomach.
• Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB), which separates your stomach into two pouches using a band
• Gastric sleeve, which removes part of your stomach
• Biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch, which removes most of your stomach

What is the long-term outlook for obesity?

There’s been a dramatic increase in obesity and in obesity-related diseases. This is the reason why communities, states, and the federal government are putting an emphasis on healthy food choices and activities to help turn the tide on obesity.

Ultimately, however, the responsibility is on each of us to make these healthy changes.

So,

This is all in Part-IV for the Treatment and Long-Term outlook of Obesity.

Please stay with me for Part-V.

THANK YOU