Medical Weight Control

What is Bariatric Medicine?

Bariatric medicine is the practice of treating obesity and many of the diseases and complications related to being obese.

 In 1985, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) convened a Health Consensus Development Conference on the Health Implications of Obesity and designated obesity as a specific disease entity requiring treatment by trained physicians.

More than 200 million people in the United States are obese. Sixty-four percent of Americans are overweight or obese and this has resulted in economic costs of more than $117 billion to our healthcare system annually.

Obesity has been established as a major risk factor for heart disease, diabetes mellitus, obstructive sleep apnea, depression and many forms of cancer.

This practice has over 30 years of experience in the medical treatment of obesity.

What Can I Expect When I am Treated at Your Practice?

You will first be evaluated by the physician with a 57-value lab analysis, ensuring your liver, kidneys, thyroid gland and other vital systems are in good health.  You will be given an EKG and a physical by the physician who will then sit down with you to review the findings and have a discussion about your current eating and exercise habits.

Based on these findings, you will be prescribed an anorectic (appetite suppressing) medication as well as multiple supplements to ensure your health and the safety of your treatment.  You will be asked to keep a food diary, and to record the number of calories of your meals.  You will also be given a diet that is easy to follow, as well as a grocery list to prepare for that diet.

The diet that is recommended will ensure that you eat the U.S.Recommended Daily Allowance of protein, minimizing simple carbohydrates and fat.

You will also plan to begin or increase your amount of exercise. Depending on your current amount of regular exercise, you and the doctor will plan a reasonable, maintainable schedule that will leave you both feeling better, as well as with an increased metabolism.

We favor the pedometer as one of the cheapest, but most effective devices in motivating and documenting activity. You can buy a good one for between $9-$20 and we suggest that you do so.

You will be seen weekly and weighed in, and provided support and further counseling by both the staff and the doctor.  You are entitled to see the doctor at any time during your treatment as many times as you feel comfortable with should you have any concerns or obstacles during your weight loss.

Patients who choose to remain on medication as a maintenance program will be seen less often, but never less than once a month for weigh-in and medical monitoring of their blood pressure.

Are These Drugs Safe?

The prescription anorectic agents that we use are controlled substances that fall under the category of "sympathetic amines".  This is NOT to be confused with "amphetamines". They do not have the same addictive nature that amphetamines tend to have and have a greater than 35 year history of safe use in this country.

Over the counter diet medications have been found to be up to 15 times more dangerous than a physician supervised course of prescription anorectic agents.

Check with our Orange County office as we are planning a 2010 Kick-Off with discounts of close to 40 percent!

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