Weight
Loss Consultation & Treatments
More than 20% of people in the UK are medically obese and a
further third of the population are overweight. If you are obese
(that is have a body mass index > 30), you are seriously
damaging your health and are at an increased risk of arthritis,
heart disease and diabetes. Clinically proven prescription
treatments are available to help you to achieve your desired
weight loss should you decided this is the route for you.
Our weight-loss
service is not suitable for people under the age of 18 years of
age, or for people suffering from chronic malabsorption
syndrome, cholestasis (a problem with the secretion of bile into
the digestive system), or for pregnant or breast-feeding women.
What causes
obesity?
In otherwise
healthy people, the causes of being obese or overweight are
simple; eating too much or taking too little exercise, or
probably both. If you regularly consume more calories than you
burn off, you will put on weight. However, the opposite is also
true - if you burn off more calories than you consume on a
regular basis you will lose weight. The way to achieve weight
loss is, therefore, to eat less and do more.
What are the risks
of obesity?
Obesity can lead
to serious health issues including diabetes, arthritis and heart
disease. In the UK, 1 in 11 deaths are now caused by obesity and
it has been estimated that in 2015, obesity will cost the NHS
£6-8 billion while the overall predicted cost to the UK economy
will be £47 billion.
If you want to
lose weight, act now and click to start your secure online
consultation.
What lifestyle
changes can aid weight loss?
The best way to
guarantee weight loss is to take in fewer calories and do more
exercise.
Eating low fat or
low carbohydrate foods cannot provide a short cut to weight loss
unless the result is a reduction in calories (which may well be
the case). Your body can convert fat to carbohydrates and vice
versa so changing the proportion of each in your diet in an
attempt to lose weight is rendered ineffective. It is now
believed that eating a higher proportion of protein rich foods
can stave off hunger for longer, and so help the consumption of
fewer calories overall.
What prescription
medication treatments are available?
In addition to
lifestyle changes that increase exercise and reduce calorie
intake, doctors can prescribe medication that can assist in
weight loss.
The main
prescription treatment is Xenical,
which works in the digestive system to prevent around 30% of
dietary fat from being absorbed by the body. The same active
ingredient (orlistat) is also available without a prescription
at a lower strength in a product called Alli which
is available from Pharmacy2U.
There is also
another medicine that has been shown to be very effective at
promoting weight loss but which is not medically licensed for
that purpose. The injection is licensed in the UK as a treatment
for type 2 diabetes and has been shown to be safe for that
purpose. For legal reasons we are unable to name this medicine,
but it is available through the Pharmacy2U Online Doctor service
to assist with weight loss should our doctor decide it is
appropriate for you. A clinical study of more than 500
non-diabetic men and women with a BMI of over 30 showed that
1.2mg a day of this treatment produced almost 5kg weight loss in
20 weeks and was as effective as Xenical and better tolerated.
At higher doses, it was more effective than Xenical. It also
showed that the treatment can be used safely when prescribed
carefully. Click
here for further details.
Saxenda is a licensed
treatment for weight loss in the USA, and will probably be
available in the UK within 2015.
Other options to
assist weight loss?
For those with a
BMI greater than 35 and who have a health-related problem such
as diabetes or high blood pressure, then surgery will assist
with weight loss and could be an option. If you wish to consider
this further you should consult your GP. There are two main
types of surgical approach to weight loss:
-
Gastric band. A band is
fitted around the neck of the stomach. This causes a feeling
of fullness after eating a very small amount of food, and
causes slow eating which helps with feeling full after a
smaller amount of food
-
Gastric bypass or stapling.
Here, the volume of the stomach is made smaller. This causes
a feeling of fullness after eating small amounts of food,
and reduces calorie absorption.
If you want to
lose weight, act now and click to start your secure weight loss
consultation.
Start Consultation here >> |
