Diet prescription medications to treat individuals who are considered to be suffering from being overweight and/or obese can work in different ways. For example, some prescription diet medications may help you feel less hungry or full sooner, while other medications can make it harder for your body to absorb fat from the foods you do eat.

Obesity and BMI Explained

In the United States obesity is considered a chronic condition that affects more than one in three adults. The health care industry and its providers use a measurement known as the “Body Mass Index” or BMI to measure your weight in relation to your height to define overweight and obesity in individuals. Individuals who have a BMI/Body Mass Index between 25 and 30 are considered overweight, while a BMI of 30 or greater is defined as being Obese. If you fall within this BMI range of measurements you are considered at greater risk of health problems in general, and health care providers will access this across all aspects relating to overall health and well-being. Dr. Hughes will use BMI to help determine if you will benefit from weight-loss medications to treat your overweight or obesity condition if you are an adult with a BMI of 30 or more or a BMI of 27 or more with weight-related health problems, such as high blood pressure or type 2 diabetes you are a likely candidate. But there are several other factors that will need to be accessed too by Dr. Hughes and his staff including but not limited to:

• The patients likely benefit of weight loss.
• The medication’s possible side effects on the patient.
• Any current health issues and other medications.
• The patient’s family’s medical history.
• Overall medical costs.

Prescription medication, Physical Activity and Healthy Eating

Prescription medication alone is never considered the be all and end all of weight loss management. A somewhat dated and obscure analogy might be best to explain this and that is that if you compare weight loss to a war, any countries military usually has an army, air force and navy so they can fight on all fronts and in doing so the war will be won quicker and more definitively. As with as it is with weight loss too, prescription medication, physical activity and healthy eating will gain the results you are seeking quicker and more definitively.