{"id":6448,"date":"2020-12-11T09:07:40","date_gmt":"2020-12-11T09:07:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/?p=6448"},"modified":"2020-12-11T09:07:41","modified_gmt":"2020-12-11T09:07:41","slug":"obesity-treatment-is-complex-requires-compassion-not-judgment-says-expert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/obesity-treatment-is-complex-requires-compassion-not-judgment-says-expert\/","title":{"rendered":"Obesity treatment is complex, requires compassion not judgment, says expert"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The standard weight loss advice \u2014 \u201cEat less and move more\u201d \u2014 is not aging well, and patients with\u00a0overweight or\u00a0obesity\u00a0issues\u00a0should seek a physician who understands their\u00a0complex\u00a0condition and\u00a0who\u00a0is aware of\u00a0available emerging\u00a0treatment\u00a0options, says an expert from a top American hospital, Cleveland Clinic.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the World Health Organization, obesity has nearly tripled worldwide since 1975 and, in its most recent figures available, more than 1.9 billion adults, 18 years and older, were overweight in 2016. Of these, over 650 million had obesity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However,\u00a0W. Scott\u00a0Butsch, MD\u00a0MSc\u00a0FTOS, Director of Obesity Medicine\u00a0in the\u00a0Bariatric and Metabolic Institute\u00a0at Cleveland Clinic, says\u00a0the good news is that researchers and doctors are continuing to learn more about\u00a0the disease of\u00a0obesity, and new\u00a0pharmacological and endoscopic\u00a0treatment options are emerging.\u00a0\u201cWe now know many genetic, biological, developmental, behavioral and environmental factors contribute to weight gain and the development of obesity,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He points out, however, that there is still a widespread belief that obesity is a lifestyle choice \u2014 that people develop obesity because they choose to eat too much or exercise too little. As a result, people with obesity are stigmatized and stereotyped in many aspects of their lives \u2014 sometimes even at the place they visit to seek help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weight bias in healthcare<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStudies find that weight bias is common in healthcare,\u201d Dr Butsch says. While medical professionals strive to provide the best possible care for their patients, studies have shown that some of them also carry negative attitudes toward patients who have obesity, or feel out of their element when it comes to treating it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those attitudes affect patient care, Dr. Butsch says. \u201cAs a physician, telling someone to eat less and move more is like telling someone who has depression just to cheer up,\u201d he says. \u201cDoctors wouldn\u2019t dream of saying this to someone with depression, but many have little reservations when making recommendations for weight loss. For whatever reason, some doctors continue to do this when they discuss obesity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medical professionals as a whole need to be better educated about the biology of obesity, he asserts, as well as the factors that play into it and their own biases \u2014 which they may or may not realize they have.\u00a0The results of a recent\u00a0study\u00a0he published showed\u00a0that\u00a0among U.S. medical school deans, only 10% reported that their medical students were\u00a0\u2018very prepared\u2019\u00a0to manage patients with obesity.\u00a0He adds\u00a0that\u00a0in more than one-quarter of the medical schools,\u00a0non-judgmental communication and\u00a0use of respectful language with patients who have obesity\u00a0was covered\u00a0to a very little extent or not at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having obesity heightens a person\u2019s risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and cancer, so a discussion on weight is an appropriate and important topic for doctors to have with their patients. However, he says, patients with obesity have likely already had many negative, biased encounters with providers, and they deserve the conversation to be thorough and compassionate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understanding causes<\/strong> <\/strong>of obesity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Butsch says it is also important for patients themselves to understand the complex nature of obesity. \u201cThere is a very tightly controlled physiologic system that regulates body weight, aiming to keep it at a certain set point, and this can hinder weight loss. Therefore, when someone is unable to lose weight, it is not their fault necessarily and they shouldn\u2019t berate themselves, just as the medical establishment shouldn\u2019t blame them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He adds that because people do not understand the complex processes involved, they often think there are only two pathways to addressing obesity \u2013 exercising and dieting on the one hand, and surgery on the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHowever, there are many types of obesity, and therefore many types of treatment, and no single treatment will work for everybody,\u201d he says. \u201cUnderstanding where patient is in their weight loss journey and to what extent their excess weight is not only affecting their health risk, but also their quality of life, can determine what treatment pathway we might choose.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Butsch stresses the importance of a thorough review of each individual patient\u2019s case. \u201cWhen a patient comes to see us with a problem with their weight, we want to take a weight history. So, often, what\u2019s not done in the medical establishment is making the effort to understand the chronology of an individual\u2019s weight. Identifying contributing factors to weight gain may not only lead us to more targeted and appropriate treatment options, but may help comfort patients who commonly blame themselves for their excess weight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finding the right pathway<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Addressing obesity is an ongoing process, and if one approach is not working after several months, the doctor and patient should consider changing course and trying a different therapy. Working with a physician who has a greater understanding and expertise in obesity is key to this process, says Dr. Butsch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you feel that you\u2019re being judged by your doctor, then you have the opportunity to seek another physician who is more knowledgeable in the field of obesity, and will provide more appropriate, non-judgmental care,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to the World Health Organization, obesity has nearly tripled worldwide since 1975 and, in its most recent figures available, more than 1.9 billion adults, 18 years and older, were overweight in 2016. Of these, over 650 million had obesity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5228,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[801,2159,1260,2048,2218],"class_list":["post-6448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsmakers","tag-diet","tag-good-food","tag-good-heart","tag-good-life","tag-high-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6448"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6449,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6448\/revisions\/6449"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}