Ep 120 Which diet pills actually work?

What is obesity? Thank you so much for joining me on today's episode of Simple Health Radio. We received a great question from one of our fellow podcasts, Doc and the Deacon. This is an amazing podcast hosted by a family medicine physician plus a member of the clergy. They talk about a lot of different medical topics, life issues, and include religious from a different perspective. You should definitely give it a listen. You can visit their website www.docandthedeacon.com Let's listen to the question that the Deacon sent in: First, let me thank the Deacon for sending in a great question. Obesity is a very delicate subject and often times it's hard to talk about it openly with your family or even with your doctor. So I appreciate you recording the question to send it to us. Medically speaking, obesity isn't just a cosmetic issue. It's really a chronic medical disease and it's directly related to diabetes, high blood pressure, heart problems, and even things like gallstones and cancer. We do know have people who try to lose weight regain it within 5 years. Therefore has a very high relapse rate. That causes a lot of frustration, even if people are eating right and doing everything away their supposed to. Obesity is now defined as an epidemic in the US. Over two-thirds of adults are already overweight. An additional one-third of Americans are obese. This is based on BMI. Obesity is based on BMI, which is the body mass index. Take the body weight in kg and divided by the height in meters squared. BMI of 25 to 29 is overweight BMI over 30 is obese Class I – 30.0 to 34.9 kg/m2 Class II – 35.0 to 39.9 kg/m2 Class III – ≥40 kg/m2 Orlistat (Alli, Xenical) is a medication that blocks the absorption of fat in the intestine. It stops Lipase from breaking down dietary fat so the intestine can't absorb it into the blood. Over the counter medications don't work. They are low doses of herbs that cause diarrhea or urination. However, this can lead to imbalances in sodium and potassium. It can also cause harm to the liver and kidneys. Lasix (Furosemide) is a strong diuretic that works on the kidneys to remove excess fluid and lower blood pressure. HCTZ is a low dose of blood pressure medicine that helps with water retention. Belviq (Lorcaserin) works on serotonin receptors and helps reduce appetite. Contrave (Bupropion and naltrexone) is a type of anti-depressant and opioid antagonist. This is used for food addiction behavior. Phentermine (Adipex P) is a stimulant. It increases heart rate and stimulates metabolism. Topamax (Trokendi) is an anticonvulsant that is effective in binge eating disorder. It's also used for seizures and migraine headaches. Liraglutide (Saxenda, Victoza) works for diabetics to help lose weight.   References: https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/adult/causes.html https://www.medicinenet.com/g00/obesity_weight_loss/article.htm?i10c.ua=1&i10c.encReferrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubWVkaWNpbmVuZXQuY29tL29iZXNpdHlfd2VpZ2h0X2xvc3MvYXJ0aWNsZS5odG0%3d&i10c.dv=6 https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-causes-of-weight-gain   Follow Simple Health Radio on: Twitter Instagram Facebook Pinterest Spotify Itunes Spreaker   If you think you may have a medical emergency, call 911 immediately. Dr. Emran and Simple Health Radio do not recommend or endorse any specific tests, physicians, products, procedures, opinions, consults, or any other information that may be mentioned on this website or radio podcast. All images are from Adobe Stock and subject to copyright laws.