By now you’ve probably heard about GLP-1 drugs that have been approved for weight loss, and while having national attention on weight loss can be good, it’s also important to know about the health issues caused by obesity and other potential treatments.
Dr. Amy Somerset is a bariatric surgeon with Detroit Medical Center and shared insight about overcoming obesity.
“Overweight and obesity means there’s excess fat on the body. We like to classify this using BMI. That stands for Body Mass Index. This is a number that just uses your height and your weight. A BMI over 25 is considered overweight. A BMI over 30 is considered obese. Once you have an elevated BMI, you are at risk for developing health conditions,” Dr. Somerset said.
The scope of health issues that can develop with obesity might be wider than you might think.
“We know high blood pressure, diabetes, sleep apnea, high cholesterol, joint pain, back pain, all of that, but things that people don’t realize are sexual dysfunction in men and women, infertility, pregnancy issues, much higher rate of C-section, also liver disease,” explained Dr. Somerset.
The doctor also talked about the the risk of cancer.
“Obesity is associated with a lot of types of cancer. We always talk about smoking, but we really need to talk about obesity. If you are a female in the obese category, you have a significantly higher rate of developing breast cancer,” she said.
There are ways to treat obesity, including the four options Dr. Somerset outlined during her appearance on “Live In The D.”
First, she talked about lifestyle, diet and exercise.
“It is important for all patients, regardless of your BMI, that you’re following a healthy diet and doing regular exercise, but everybody knows how hard it is to lose weight. Unfortunately, lifestyle frequently isn’t enough. We also have medications,” Dr. Somerset said.
The doctor talked about GLP-type medications, such as Ozempic and Wegovy.
“I’ve had great success with those, but keep in mind, every medication has side effects. It’s not right for every patient. Not every patient tolerates it. You really need to talk to your health care provider about that,” the doctor stressed.
The third option Dr. Somerset discussed is endoscopic procedures.
“This is where I can actually put a camera down your mouth, into your stomach, put a balloon inside your stomach, or actually sew your stomach to be tighter from down your mouth,” she explained.
The fourth weight loss option the doctor highlighted is bariatric surgery.
If you are interested in learning more about surgical and medical weight loss treatment options, click here or watch the video above.