Diabesity: Yes, That is a Real Thing

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Weight loss drugs for diabesity.

It should come as no surprise as the prevalence of diabetes rises in the American population, so does the prevalence of obesity. In fact, dietitians have recently taken to calling this rising trend “diabesity”, a sinister combination of diabetes and obesity. Despite the best effort of dietitians to help individuals lose weight and effectively manage their diabetes, there are still individuals who benefit from drugs to help them lose weight and effectively manage their diabetes. The FDA recently approved a variety of drugs that help individuals with this task.

While these drugs provide important opportunities for patients with diabetes and obesity dietitians should realize that these drugs are not a “magic bullet” for their lives. Counseling these patients on both diabetes and weight loss is still a vital aspect to their overall health. There a few simple yet effective steps that dietitians should take when counseling those with diabetes and obesity.

Dietitians should try and convince patients that their best option when managing diabetes in their lives is to consider “intensive lifestyle therapy” first and if that doesn’t work then consider weight loss drugs to combat their obesity. Drugs should only be considered an option if the patient hasn’t lost any weight within a six month period of a low-calorie diet, increase in their physical activity, and behavior modification therapy. After six months of no change, the patient’s risk of long term health failure outweighs the perceived risks of medications.

Even when patients are on a weight loss drugs, there should still be a continued effort put on nutrition counseling. Just because a patient may be doing better with the drugs they are on does not mean they are off the hook when it comes to managing their nutrition. Focusing the nutrition counseling on individual needs rather than a one-size-fits all approach should have better results. Dietitians must realize that their job doesn’t stop once an individual’s health begins to improve, they are with them throughout every step of the journey on their way to a healthy lifestyle. 

PB

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