Treatments for Obesity - Diet and Nutrition

Treatments for Obesity

How do health practitioners attempt to treat obesity? There are several basic approaches for helping obese people lose weight without regaining it. One approach is to psychologically condition an obese patient to avoid overeating. Another approach is to use gastric bypass surgery to shrink the stomach, thereby reducing its storage capacity. This typically involves applying stainless steel staples across the top of the stomach which shortens the stomach and results in early satiety. Although somewhat extreme, gastric bypass surgery generally works, and obese patients normally achieve a 20 pound weight loss, according to Forse, Benotti, and Blackburn.

Conventional physicians also use toxic drugs such as dexfenfluramine (dF) to decrease hunger in obese patients. Further experiments with dF are needed, however, to test for toxicity, drug tolerance morbidity, and mortality from obesity. Very Low Calorie Diets (VLCD) in conjunction with prolonged use of dF have also been shown to be effective, according to Michelle Homes in the January 1990 American Family Physician .