Physicians writing on KevinMD about obesity: whether it is a disease, what the GLP-1 drugs from Ozempic to oral Wegovy have changed, what happens when patients stop them, who should take them and who pays, teenagers, compounded versions, bariatric surgery, and the stigma patients describe in the exam room. One maintained record draws on this archive: GLP-1 drugs: what physicians say about Ozempic and its successors, in their own words.
If an apple a day can keep the doctor away, how much more can a delicious burrito bowl with citrus lime vinaigrette do?
About half of all American adults – 117 million — have one or more preventable chronic diseases, many of which are related to poor quality eating patterns and physical inactivity. According to the U.S. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, more than two-thirds of adults and nearly …
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Physicians-in-training learn to cook for improved health outcomes
As medical professionals, one of the most challenging things to do is to motivate a patient to make changes in their lives. We passionately want the best for our patients, and it is sometimes so difficult for us to be able to connect with and inspire them to take the next step on a path to disease prevention and longevity. The solution? Enter Lebron James and Tom Brady.
It is no …
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How Tom Brady and Lebron James can change your patients’ health
I met a young man in my clinic recently, who came for treatment of obesity.
He was only 26, yet suffered from obesity throughout his life — now reaching a debilitating 420 pounds. His explanation for how he developed obesity was a reflection of the issues surrounding nutrition health policy in the U.S. He said that “it would have been easier to not put the weight on to begin with,” that …
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How can we really stop obesity?
Obesity is a global epidemic, and its prevalence is increasing in every part of the world. While we have new medications and complex surgical techniques that promote weight loss, the awareness of healthy eating habits and dietary education are still the most important factors in helping control body weight.
Unfortunately, nutrition knowledge appears confined largely to books and exams; as the doctors barely engage in nutrition counseling with patients. In teaching …
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Why doctors-in-training need better nutritional education
Eat less, exercise more is a common refrain heard by millions of people with obesity. If only it were that simple. Decades of research shows obesity is a disease that is caused by a combination of genetic, environmental, biological, and behavioral factors that requires a range of interventions for treatment and prevention. The American Medical Association, the nation’s largest physician group, agreed when it officially recognized obesity as a disease …
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New year, new thinking about treating obesity
I was misinformed about medical school. Growing up, I wanted to help people become healthy. After four years at the Ohio State University Medical School and three years of a family medicine residency, I still did not know enough to accomplish my goal. My training allowed me to become a disease-care expert, not a health care specialist. I was taught little to nothing about nutrition and true disease prevention. Despite …
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Doctors need to learn more about nutrition
In 2013, the American Medical Association (AMA) announced its decision to classify obesity as a disease, moving against the recommendation at the time of a group studying obesity. Yet there are still those who believe that obesity is not a disease but rather a “condition,” and this has downstream ramifications for health policy, health care provider reimbursement, and, ultimately, societal health and well-being. But this is …
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Call obesity what it is: a disease
I cannot get behind fat acceptance, or better stated in medical lingo as “normalizing obesity.” As a physician and as someone who has been obese or morbidly obese my adult life, I know first hand what it’s like to hate my body and feel ashamed of it. I still do this very moment as I type this, that’s something I have to work on.
Funny thing is, I am much more …
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Don’t sign off on fat acceptance. Don’t normalize obesity.
The beverage industry derailed the movement for soda taxes in California by convincing state elected officials to pre-empt local taxing authority in exchange for cancelling a ballot initiative that would have made all new taxes difficult to pass. But taxes are not the only way to reduce sugary beverage consumption in California or the U.S. as a whole.
The beverage industry has come up with several ideas on how to …
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A new way to reduce sugary beverage consumption
There are now more than 700 million obese people worldwide, 108 million of them children, reported the New York Times in 2017. In Brazil, food giant Nestle sends vendors door-to-door hawking its high-calorie junk food and giving customers a full month to pay for their purchases. Nestle calls the junk food hawkers, who are themselves obese, “micro-entrepreneurs.”
Big Food is increasingly targeting poor countries as “emerging markets” to …
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Why do we think obesity is caused by lack of exercise and not junk food?
I stood in line at the grocery store waiting to pay for my items. The woman behind me, who would be categorized as obese, was eyeing some of the snacks so conveniently placed in the checkout aisle. She grabbed a meal bar and analyzed it for a few seconds, then said aloud to me: “You ever had one of these? They’re pretty good. And they’re gluten-free, that’s how you know they’re healthy.”
Healthy.
What …
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When someone claims something is healthy, be skeptical
The keto diet has recently garnered much fame for its apparent ability to improve diabetes and obesity – results so impressive the Journal of the American Medical Association recently highlighted the diet and thereby christened it as something more than a low-carb craze. However, not all the evidence supports such a positive outlook, leading the diet to straddle the increasingly blurred lines between faddist snake …
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A physician’s warning on the keto diet
Editor’s note: Graphic image below.
Envision a large, loafy muffin top. Not just a central bulge or even love handles. I’m speaking of an apron of skin and fat that hangs down over many an American’s lower torso and groin. Surely you’ve seen it — you may even have one. Its medical name is the pannus.
I had never heard of a pannus in medical school and I still never hear it …
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Obesity from the pathologist’s perspective
Why are there vending machines in hospitals? This seems like an odd question to ponder, and it certainly would seem to have nothing to do with the current state of medicine and health care in our country. But it is a question that I am having a hard time wrapping my brain around. Certainly, most hospitals do have vending machines that sell snacks and soda, and they are by no …
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Why are there vending machines in hospitals?
