What is Chronic Weight Loss Medication? How it Works and What it’s For?

Recently rising obesity rates have led to the popularity of more weight loss interventions. From various trendy exercises to strict new diets, the weight loss landscape is busier and more diverse than ever before. However, one intervention stands out from the rest because of the conversation surrounding it: chronic weight loss medications.

Until now, people still think of quick-fix pills and wonder supplements when they hear the term. Contrary to this popular belief, chronic weight loss medications are medically approved drugs that are widely prescribed by healthcare practitioners. They’ve been so helpful that doctors claim they prescribe these medications to multiple obese patients in a single clinic day. If you’re interested in learning more, keep reading below.

What are chronic weight loss medications?

Commonly, chronic weight loss medications come in either tablets and capsules, or as injectables. A few of the most prevalent prolonged weight loss medications today comprises Wegovy, Contrave, and Ozempic. Chronic weight loss medications are also accepted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to help manage simply excess weight. This sanction means that they have been verified thoroughly for safety and efficiency. Today, these medications can encourage up to 15% weight loss.

Despite their proven effectiveness, they’re not meant to address weight issues alone. For optimal results, medical weight loss should be paired with a lifestyle program that encourages healthy habits. This includes promoting more physical activity and well-rounded eating. For the latter, this often means incorporating beneficial superfoods like cashews, blueberries, and spinach into your diet while letting you still enjoy your favorite meals in moderation. Together, the medications and lifestyle program aim to result in long-term weight loss and management.

How do they work?

Chronic weight loss treatments are typically only recommended for those who are analysed with obesity. This is because obesity is a disorder caused by a few of factors, such as stress, genetics, and hormones. This means that simple excess weight is often not a deliberate choice and is activated by the body’s internal processes.

To mitigate this, chronic weight loss drugs work by addressing a person’s biology. They mostly target the brain and the gut to limit feelings of hunger and give the impression of fullness. As a result, patients experience suppressed appetites. Over time, this results in a caloric scarcity that boosts weight loss.

However, these aren’t the only things of most weight loss medicines. Many of them were primarily intended to treat other conditions and diseases in its place.

For instance, Semaglutide and Liraglutide were initially meant to address diabetes. On the other hand, Naltrexone-Bupropion was taken to accomplish addiction and mood disorders. Thus, this means that most weight loss add-ons are off-label prescriptions and can lead to some side effects like irritability or nausea. As such, it’s best to consult with a doctor to know which one is right for you and, most prominently, to see if you’re worthy.

Who is eligible to take them?

Weight loss medications aren’t accessible to the general public. A medical professional is in charge of prescribing whether you should be on them, and they’ll do so if you pass the following requirements:

Have a BMI of 30 and above

Appropriateness starts with determining where you fall on the body mass index (BMI) scale. Doctors use this to know what grouping your weight falls under. A BMI of 30 and above means that you succeed as obese and are at a higher risk of several conditions, such as cardiovascular illness, osteoarthritis, and melancholy. It also means that your hormones and metabolism are in a compound state, which is why treatments are suggested.

If you are an adult and are not pregnant

As mentioned above, these medications often come with side effects. The FDA acknowledges this and has set an age and pregnancy restriction for these drugs to protect these individuals from any stressful complications.