Behavioral weight loss programs are effective — but where to find them?
The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) is a team of volunteer experts from various primary care medicine and nursing fields. They identify big medical problems, review the research, and translate it into action plans (called practice recommendations) for doctors like me.
Just this fall, they tackled obesity, with the goal of identifying effective ways we in primary care can help people to lose weight.
And it’s not about aesthetics. This is about disease prevention, especially diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease, which are particularly associated with obesity.
They were NOT looking at surgeries or oth...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - November 12, 2018 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Monique Tello, MD, MPH Tags: Diet and Weight Loss Healthy Eating Source Type: blogs
MKSAP: 49-year-old woman with obesity, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes mellitus
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians.
A 49-year-old woman is evaluated during a follow-up visit. She is overweight and has hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus, both of which are well controlled. For several years, she has attempted to lose weight through various commercial diets; dietician-monitored, calorie-restricted diets; and physical activity. She has worked with a behavioral therapist, and although she has not achieved weight loss, her weight has remained stable. She exercises 30 minutes daily. Medical history is also remarkable for glau...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - September 1, 2018 Category: General Medicine Authors: < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/mksap" rel="tag" > mksap < /a > Tags: Conditions Obesity Primary Care Source Type: blogs
MKSAP: 47-year-old man with hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and obstructive sleep apnea
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians.
A 47-year-old man is evaluated during a follow-up examination. He is obese and has hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and obstructive sleep apnea. He reports that he has always has been overweight, and over the years, his weight has gradually increased to 123 kg (271 lb). During the past 2 years, he has tried several commercial diets; a dietician-monitored, calorie-restricted diet; increased physical activity; orlistat; and a combination of these interventions, all without achieving sustained weight loss. M...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - May 26, 2018 Category: General Medicine Authors: < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/mksap" rel="tag" > mksap < /a > Tags: Conditions Primary Care Source Type: blogs
6 tricks that pharmaceutical marketers use
Long before the Internet and direct-to-consumer advertising, the medical profession tried to reassure people about their health concerns. Remember “take two aspirins and call me in the morning?”
Flash forward to today’s online “symptom checkers.” They are quizzes to see if someone has a certain disease and exhortations to see their doctor even if they feel fine. Once drug makers discovered that health fears and even hypochondria sell drugs, there seems to be no end to the new diseases, symptoms and risks people need to worry about.
In fact, since drug ads began on TV, Americans take so many drugs it inspires ...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - May 30, 2017 Category: General Medicine Authors: < a href="http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/martha-rosenberg" rel="tag" > Martha Rosenberg < /a > Tags: Meds Medications Source Type: blogs
The Future of Work Part I
Have you ever taken some time to think about what work will look like 5, 10 or even 20 years from now? If you haven’t, it is probably worth the effort because a changing work environment may have dramatic implications for how you are employed in the future. In these two posts, I want to talk about some of the trends I’m seeing and how they may play out in the coming years.
Outsourcing
Companies are getting better and better at spinning off specific business functions and letting them be handled by others. For example, many businesses can’t justify running payroll in-house. It is cheaper to hire a company...
Source: Productivity501 - September 20, 2016 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Mark Shead Tags: Misc Source Type: blogs
MKSAP: 48-year-old woman with gradual weight gain
Test your medicine knowledge with the MKSAP challenge, in partnership with the American College of Physicians.
A 48-year-old woman is evaluated during a routine examination. She is concerned about her gradual weight gain over the years and requests counseling on how she can most effectively lose weight.
Over 8 years, she has gained approximately 18 kg (40 lb). With several commercial diets, she has lost weight but always gains it back. She has a sedentary job, and often skips breakfast or eats dinner on the run. She states she cannot fit exercise into her busy day. She takes no medications and has no allergies.
On physic...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - April 25, 2015 Category: Journals (General) Authors: mksap Tags: Conditions Obesity Source Type: blogs
Pills vs. Programs
By Quinn Phillips
It has often been observed that our health-care system is designed, first and foremost, to provide treatment for acute conditions — that is, conditions that can be treated and cured, leaving the patient healthy until the next illness or malady comes along. Chronic conditions such as Type 2 diabetes and obesity often receive less attention than they deserve, given that they account for a large share of health-care costs in the United States and many other industrialized countries. For example, many insurance plans will cover only a few hours of diabetes education, while fully covering amputations due...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - August 6, 2014 Category: Diabetes Authors: Quinn Phillips Source Type: blogs
Weight-Loss Meds
By Amy Campbell
If only the magic bullet for weight control really existed. We could pop a pill every day that would allow us to eat what we wanted, when we wanted. This pill would banish diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. We'd be a lot happier, too. Unfortunately, all of this is wishful thinking. A magic bullet, whether it be pill, potion, or powder, has yet to surface.
A lot of options exist for helping with weight loss, but there are pros and cons to all of them. Diets are hard to follow, exercise takes time, behavior modification is hard, and surgery seems drastic. Medications are a possibility, but ...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - November 4, 2013 Category: Diabetes Authors: Amy Campbell Source Type: blogs
Top stories in health and medicine, September 20, 2013
From MedPage Today:
Orlistat Helps Trim Waistlines. Treatment of overweight and obese individuals with orlistat (Xenical, Alli) was associated with decreased waist circumference to a greater extent than either placebo or standard care.
Less Radiation Works in Early Breast Cancer. Hypofractionated radiotherapy after surgery for early breast cancer is at least as effective and safe as the historical standard regimen.
Screening Cuts Colon Cancer Mortality. Colorectal cancer screening — be it colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, or fecal occult-blood testing — reduced risks of colorectal cancer mortality.
Study Supports B...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - September 20, 2013 Category: Family Physicians Tags: News Cancer Obesity orthopedics Source Type: blogs
Consumer Awareness Of New Obesity Drugs Remains Low
There may be a pair of recently approved prescription diet pills available, but is the public paying any attention? Investors are alert if only because they are betting on profits from the two manufacturers – Vivus and Arena Pharmaceuticals. Meanwhile, doctors are reportedly skittish about prescribing and insurers are balking at providing coverage. But what about interest among consumers?
One analyst suggests that awareness of the new obesity drugs is low, assuming that a look at trend lines on Google is a useful proxy. According to Needham analyst Alan Carr, he poked around and found that there were 33 times more search...
Source: Pharmalot - July 30, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: esilverman Source Type: blogs
