What is Obesity?
According to the World Health Organization, obesity is one of today’s most noticeable public health problems. Obesity, defined as a Body Mass Index (BMI) over 30, poses a major risk for multiple chronic diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure (hypertension), and stroke. Consequences of being overweight or obese range on an emotional, social, and physical spectrum. The risks often can affect individuals’ overall quality of life. (1)
How Can I Manage My Weight?
Lifestyle changes are usually the first recommendation to aid in weight management. These types of changes can include lowering sugar intake, increasing protein intake and focusing on eating whole foods versus highly processed foods in our diet. Unfortunately, in some cases, diet and exercise alone are not enough to achieve adequate weight loss. Many people are turning to medications and/or surgery to assist them in losing weight. Surgery can be very effective for some but can come with risks, such as complications from anesthesia and extreme dietary restrictions post operatively.
Medications for Weight Management
Many people are turning towards medications to aid in their weight loss journey today. Most people have heard of “GLPs” either on the news or from a friend or family member taking these medications. They have been proven effective in lowering weight. (2) Therefore, they are being prescribed by health care providers for patients who are overweight with or without diabetes. However, some people may be reluctant to try this option due to the need for self-injection. You can view our blog post: What Are GLPs & Are They Right for Me? for more information about these medications.
Clinical Trials
There is a lot of research being conducted, including clinical trials, at research sites like Chase Medical Research, that are looking at the effectiveness of oral GLPs. These studies aim to show that people can get the comparable weight loss effects of injectable GLPs without the needle! If this sounds interesting to you, visit this site or call 203-419-4404 for more information and to see if you qualify for this study.
References:
- World Health Organization: WHO (2025) Controlled the global obesity epidemic https://www.who.int/activities/controlling-the-global-obesity-epidemic
- White GE, Shu I, Rometo D, Arnold J, Korytkowski M, Luo J. Real-world weight-loss effectiveness of glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists among patients with type 2 diabetes: A retrospective cohort study. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2023 Feb;31(2):537-544. doi: 10.1002/oby.23622. Epub 2023 Jan 9. PMID: 36621904; PMCID: PMC9877131.
