Medication Assisted Weight Loss
How common is being overweight?
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What are the health consequences of obesity?
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Why do I struggle to lose weight?
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What are the benefits of weight loss?
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How much weight do I need to lose to see benefits?
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How much weight can I expect to lose with medication?
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Reduce your risk for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and more.
Achieve your healthy body weight
Multiple treatment options
FDA approved weight loss treatments
Clinically proven to lose up to 21% of your body weight with diet and exercise.
How common is being overweight?
Data from 2017–2018 show that 31.9% of American adults are overweight while an additional 51.6% are obese. That means that more than 83% of Americans 20 years of age or older are above a healthy weight and are at an increased risk for disease and early death.
1) Hales CM, Carroll MD, Fryar CD, Ogden CL. Prevalence of obesity and severe obesity among adults: United States, 2017–2018. NCHS Data Brief. 2020;360:1-7.
Why should I lose weight?
Obesity is a chronic, progressive, relapsing, multifactorial disease and described as an epidemic that leads to a deterioration of health in multiple ways.
If there is one thing you can do for your health, it is to control your weight.
1) Garvey WT. Is obesity or adiposity-based chronic disease curable: the set point theory, the environment, and second-generation medications. Endocr Pract. 2022;28(2):214-222.
What are the consequences of obesity?
1) Fitch AK, Bays HE. Obesity definition, diagnosis, bias, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and telehealth: an Obesity Medicine Association (OMA) Clinical Practice Statement (CPS) 2022. Obes Pillars. 2022;1:100004. 2) Massie DC, Amaro A, Kaplan M. Patient well-being and the clinical and economic burdens associated with obesity in the United States. Am J Manag Care. 2022;28(15 Suppl):S279-S287. 3) Patel AV, Patel KS, Teras LR. Excess body fatness and cancer risk: a summary of the epidemiologic evidence. Surg Obes Relat Dis. 2023;19(7):742-745. 4) Massie DC, Amaro A, Kaplan M. Patient well-being and the clinical and economic burdens associated with obesity in the United States. Am J Manag Care. 2022;28(15 Suppl):S279-S287 5) Lustig RH, Collier D, Kassotis C, et al. Obesity I: overview and molecular and biochemical mechanisms.Biochem Pharmacol. 2022;199:115012. 6) Ward ZJ, Bleich SN, Long MW, Gortmaker SL. Association of body mass index with health care expenditures in the United States by age and sex. PLoS One. 2021;16(3):e0247307. 7) Global BMI Mortality Collaboration, Di Angelantonio E, Bhupathiraju S, et al. Body mass index and all-cause mortality: individual participant data meta-analysis of 239 prospective studies in four continents. Lancet. 2016;388(10046):776-786.
Obesity is a cause or contributing factor to type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, cardiovascular disease, sleep apnea, and joint and back pain.1,2
Excessive body fat is a cause of 13 cancers, including esophageal, gastric, cardiac, colorectal, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, meningioma, postmenopausal breast, endometrium, ovary, kidney, thyroid, and multiple myeloma. Overweight- and obesity-related cancers account for about 40% of all cancers.3,4
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Obesity increases a person’s susceptibility to wound and systemic infections and increases the likelihood of hospital stays, intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, and death.5
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Obesity is associated with an increase cost of personal health care expenditures.6
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Being overweight and obese increases your chance of death from any cause.7
What is BMI?
1) Weir CB, Jan A. BMI classification percentile and cut off points. StatPearls. Treasure Island, FL: StatPearls Publishing; 2023.
Weight is classified based on body mass index (BMI), which is a measure of body fat based on height and weight. We look beyond the height to weight ratio as it is misleading in certain populations and in people with higher muscle mass.
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Why do I struggle to lose weight?
1) Singh N, Stewart RAH, Benatar JR. Intensity and duration of lifestyle interventions for long-term weight loss and association with mortality: a meta-analysis of randomised trials. BMJ Open. 2019;9:e029966., Tirthani E, Quartuccio M. Non-dieting approaches to treatment of obesity. StatPearls. Treasure Island, FL: StatPearls Publishing; 2023.
You are not alone. A literature review of 31 randomized controlled trials looked at lifestyle (diet and exercise) versus control interventions (medications and surgery) for weight loss. The conclusion was that most people cannot achieve or maintain sufficient weight long-term without pharmacotherapy or surgery.
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We can offer you the tools you need to achieve your ideal weight.
What are the benefits of weight loss?
1) Tahrani, A. A., & Morton, J. (2022). Benefits of weight loss of 10% or more in patients with overweight or obesity: a review. Obesity, 30(4), 802-840.
Benefits of weight loss include improvements in:​
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glucose metabolism
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type 2 diabetes
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blood pressure
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cardiovascular health
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knee osteoarthritis
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sleep apnea
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fertility
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health-related quality of life
How much weight do I need to lose to see health benefits?
Weight loss as low as 5% to 10% of baseline is associated with clinically meaningful improvements in obesity-related risk factors and adverse health outcomes.
1) Tahrani AA, Morton J. Benefits of weight loss of 10% or more in patients with overweight or obesity: a review. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2022;30(4):802-840.
What medications are available for weight loss?
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As previously mentioned, it has been clinically demonstrated to be unrealistic for most people to lose weight and maintain it without medical assistance.
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The latest revolution of weight loss medication has been some variation of Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists (GLP-1 RAs). These include semaglutide, tirzepatide, and retatrutide (not yet FDA approved).
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Other effective options include Phentermine/Topiramate ER (Qsymia) and Naltrexone/Bupropion ER (Contrave)​.
How much weight can I expect to lose with medication?
Clinical studies have shown the following average weight loss associated with the following medications:
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Semaglutide - lost 15% of baseline weight,
Tirzepatide - lost 21% of baseline weight
Retatrutide - lost 24% of baseline weight (currently pending FDA approval)
1) Garvey WT. Is obesity or adiposity-based chronic disease curable: the set point theory, the environment, and second-generation medications. Endocr Pract. 2022;28(2):214-222.