Healthy lifestyle patterns and medications help weight loss: Study

Latest studies ascertain 10 per cent weight reduction in individuals after following a comprehensive pattern of a healthy lifestyle along with weight loss drugs.

"If weight loss can be sustained, metabolic abnormalities can be reversed with meaningful benefits in patients with type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and many other diseases where obesity is the root cause," said Michael A. Weintraub from the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism.

The study, that analysed 428 patients, helped the medical practitioners design and prescribe personalized diet plans for patients according to their body weights.

All the patients involved in the study were asked to follow a low-glycaemic diet. Exercise plans were fixed by obesity medicine specialists along with additional counselling sessions by dieticians.

Medications involve contents that include metformin, phentermine, and topiramate.

In 5 years, patients with a weight loss of 10.7 percent was detected. Some patients reported even shedding 15 per cent.

While speaking on the dependency on drugs, Dr. Suchitra Rao insists on continuing medicines for the long term, depending on the intensity of obesity. Besides this, stress regulation and proper sleep patterns can also help in weight loss.

However, in conditions like PCOS and hypothyroidism, shifts in lifestyle patterns alone will not favour in weight reduction. Medications are also prescribed in these cases.

Patients who tend to stop medicines immediately might suffer from side effects like sudden weight gain.