Health Care Weight Control
8301 Arlington Boulevard - Suite T-5
Fairfax, VA 22031
Phone: (703) 208-CARE (2273) <> Fax: (703) 208-0710 <> E-mail: healthcareweightcontrol@verizon.net

Being Heavy Should Never be Taken Lightly ™

        
Treatments - Past and Present
       Having identified and defined the problem, it is instructive to look atthe history of treatment. Many things have been tried for the treatment of obesity ranging from the severe and dangerous to ludicrous and laughable.

The liquid protein diets deserve a special mention. They used a predigested collagen extracted from animal sinews - such as horse hooves - which were totally unusable by the human body. This produced what was essentially a complete starvation fast and indeed some people died as a result of taking these liquid proteins.

It is important that you understand the difference between the supplement we utilize and these old liquid proteins.

Our supplement, described in more detail later, is vastly different from the old liquid diets in that it utilizes the highest quality protein available from Non-fat dry milk, Calcium Caseinate, Soy Protein and/or Whey Protein Isolate and is nutritionally complete, providing all of the vitamins, minerals and trace elements that your body needs for safe and healthy weight loss. The supplements should never be used as the sole source of nutrition without physician prescription and supervision.

In addition to the above mentioned methods, surgical techniques have been developed such as VERTICAL BANDED GASTROPLASTY, ROUX-EN-Y GASTRIC BYPASS, ADJUSTABLE GASTRIC BANDING (NEW), and gastric stapling which can be useful for the morbidly obese patients when combined with a multidisciplinary program providing ongoing care.

The Low Calorie Diet or LCD (or Very Low Calorie Diet - VLCD) like the one we use, provides 800  or 1000 calories per day composed of 70 to 110 gms of high quality protein either in the form of food or a powdered supplement with the addition of the appropriate level of carbohydrate, vitamins, minerals and trace elements. When given in a multi pronged, comprehensive program utilizing the best of behavior modification techniques, regulated exercise, nutrition education , a strong emphasis on long term maintenance of weight and careful medical supervision throughout, you have the HCWC Program of today.

Recently we have come to understand how chemicals produced in the brain (serotonin) effect our appetites and how medications can be used to modify these chemical reactions and control appetite. Most appetite suppressants are amphetamine or amphetamine-like chemicals that can be quite dangerous such as fenfluramine and phentermine (so called "fen-phen") which were popular in the late 1990s but fenfluramine was removed from the market due to serious side effects.

Phenylpropanolamine, the chief ingredient in many over-the-counter diet (as well as cold) medications has also be removed from the market because of serious cardiovascular side effects. Newer medications that block fat absorption or artificial fat substitutes used in food processing are available - though intestinal side effects limit their usefulness for many users.

Two medications, Meridia (sibutramine) an appetite suppressant and Xenical (orlistat) - an enzyme inhibitor which prevents fat absorption are available and can be useful for appropriate patients. New drugs are being developed all the time and as they are approved and found to be safe and effective, we will consider prescribing them to selected patients.

    You should understand that weight loss by any means can be potentially dangerous for any given individual. Losing large amounts of weight can result in the loss of some lean muscle tissue, could precipitate electrolyte and other chemical imbalances, dehydration and its resultant weakness, fatigue and light headedness. In addition, as evidenced by well publicized incidents involving several well known commercial diets, significant weight loss can bring about the development of gall bladder disease or stones. These reasons among many others underscore the importance of careful medical supervision during weight loss.

     Indeed, it has been estimated that approximately 64% of all adult Americans are currently at increased risk to their health because they are overweight or obese; and the number is growing every year. While we do not know precisely why this is so, certainly the sedentary life style and "typical" American diet which is so high in fat and refined sugars are certainly contributing factors.

The health risks associated with obesity seem to increase along with your weight and include cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks and stroke; high blood pressure, cancers of various kinds, diabetes, increased cholesterol, and joint and back pains, among others. There are also significant psychological implications due to the poor self image that many overweight individuals feel brought on, in part, by difficulty in mobility, and the fact that there is considerable discrimination against obese people in social and work situations.

With all of these serious health risks, the benefits of weight loss are self evident and substantial

Now, while various definitions and descriptions have been used over the years for the state of being overweight, the National Institute of Health declared in a Consensus Report on Obesity in 1985 that being 20% or more over one's ideal body weight according to life insurance tables, is the point at which that individual is at risk to his or her health because of excess fat. And while we know that the fat distribution, age at onset and other factors affect the degree of an individual's health risk, it was in this Consensus Report that the NIH took obesity out of the realm of cosmetic inconvenience and gave it the status of a serious, independent medical problem of national importance and one that required serious attention by physicians, lay public and government alike.

Obesity - The Problem and Body Mass Index

     The problem of being overweight has been with mankind for eons. Perhaps the early cavemen were not overweight as they probably worked extremely hard for the meager food available. But certainly we have recognized the problem for centuries. The great Bard himself said it well: