Comprehensive Medical Weight Loss
Get the latest developments in medical weight loss at Clinical Nutrition Center in Denver, Colorado, a doctor-supervised weight loss center. Ethan Lazarus, MD is a medical weight loss doctor helping patients achieve long-term weight control.
Carrying extra weight is always dangerous to your health, even if the amount of excess weight is small. When an individual gains enough weight to be considered obese, the problem becomes even more serious. Unfortunately, this condition is much more widespread than many people realize. In fact, according to data published by the Centers for Disease Control, more than one-third of all adults living in the United States are currently obese.
I am thrilled that on June 11th, 2014, the American Medical Association (AMA) adopted policy advocating for patient access to obesity treatment services including behavioral, pharmaceutical, nutritional and surgical interventions. This policy comes one year after the AMA recognized obesity as a “disease requiring a range of medical interventions to advance obesity treatment and prevention,” a decision I was thrilled to play a pivotal role in.
In June, the American Medical Association officially recognized obesity as a disease, though the condition has long been regarded as a medical concern. Much more than an issue of excess weight and aesthetic dissatisfaction, living with obesity puts you at a greater risk of developing serious medical complications. One such obesity-related disease is type-2 diabetes, also commonly referred to as adult-onset diabetes.
For many years I have told my patients that obesity is not a problem of eating too much and exercising too little, in spite of this common stereotype that has been propagated everywhere from the lay press to physician beliefs. We have had good science to support that in fact obesity should be considered a disease and not simply a result of conscious behaviors dating back to the discovery of leptin, a hormone that fat cells make which governs appetite regulation, back in 1994. In 1998 our National Institute of Health recognized obesity as a disease. And today the American Medical Association adopted new policy recognizing obesity as a disease.
This is a continuation of our discussion of weight loss myths, perceptions, and facts. Now it’s time to change gears again. In part one and part two of this series, we discussed myths (things that are believed but simply aren’t true), and in part three and part four we talked about presumptions (things we think are true but we can’t really prove it one way or the other – so, unsubstantiated beliefs). Let’s talk about some obesity FACTS that we KNOW are true.
This is a continuation of our discussion of weight loss myths, perceptions and facts. In part one and part two of this series, we touched on myths about obesity and factors like goal-setting, physical education and sexual activity. Now, we continue our discussion of presumptions about obesity—the things we believe to be true about obesity that scientific evidence has not made certain.
This is a continuation of our discussion of weight loss myths, perceptions, and facts. Unlike the myths we discussed in part one and part two of this series, which we know are just not true, it is just as important to recognize that there are many widely held beliefs regarding obesity that we just don’t have the scientific evidence to support. These beliefs or presumptions may or may not be true.
When it comes to weight loss, not everything you hear is true. This is a continuation of our discussion of myths about obesity.
One of my favorite topics to lecture both to doctors and to the community about is myths and facts about obesity. For example, I love seeing the look in physicians’ eyes when I tell them that instructing their patients of weight to eat less and exercise more is not effective advice, and in fact may ultimately do more harm than good.
In 2012, a new board, the American Board of Obesity Medicine (ABOM) was formed to establish the Medical sub-specialty of Obesity Medicine. The goal of this organization is to define what body of knowledge an Obesity Medicine specialist should be competent in, and then to establish standards for a doctor to become certified in Obesity Medicine.
