Weight loss is a popular medical service that hundreds of thousands of Americans are often looking into. A study done by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) between 2013 and 2016 found that “49.1% of U.S. adults tried to lose weight in the last 12 months”. The CDC also found in the same study that “almost 40% of adults in the United States had obesity in 2016-2016”.
ABC News quoted the CDC in that they “found that 17 percent of Americans said they were on diets during the 2017-2018 survey period, up from 14% a decade earlier”. Most people who are looking to shed some pounds are often doing it because of health or appearance reasons. Medically speaking, people’s primary care providers (PCP) are often the first ones to explain to them that the heavier you become the more health risks will follow. Obesity comes with a large variety of health risks such as:
- All-caused of death (mortality)
- High blood pressure (hypertension)
- High LDL cholesterol, low HDL cholesterol, or high levels of triglycerides (Dyslipidemia)
- Type 2 diabetes
- Coronary heart disease
- Stroke
- Gallbladder disease
- Osteoarthritis
- Sleep apnea and breathing problems
- Many types of cancers
- Low quality of life
- Mental illness such as clinical depression, anxiety, and other mental disorders
- Body pain and difficulty with physical function
These medical conditions often scare people, so this is what motivates them to lose that weight. For those who have limited success losing weight through traditional methods, you may benefit by joining Cross Valley Health & Medicine’s Weight Loss Management Program.
What is a medically supervised weight loss program?
Like any other trip to the doctor’s office, each visit starts with an initial consultation that is geared towards your weight concerns. Your Cross Valley Health & Medicine provider will most likely be Christian Plaza, FNP and he is trained in obesity management. Mr. Plaza will begin to evaluate you to understand where the underlying causes for obesity are coming from and/or do you have any other medical conditions that may contribute to weight gain. Since Mr. Plaza’s medical training is in family health, he is highly trained to examine the whole person rather than focus on one specific part; he will identify the reason(s) for your weight gain and develop a care plan to help you lose weight. Some insurance plans do cover these costs but remember to check with your carrier prior to look into weight loss management programs.
What are some techniques Mr. Plaza will use in the weight loss program?
Mr. Plaza typically organizes each patient into three unique tactics for his weight loss management program. The first tactic involves behavior modifications. Mr. Plaza will perform a full assessment of your mental wellbeing to get a good understand of how you behave in certain situations. One common area that Mr. Plaza will assess is stress since “about 40% of people tend to eat more when stressed, while about 40% eat less and 20% experience no change in the amount of food they eat when exposed to stress” according to MedicineNet. He also takes a look to see if you have signs of depression and/or anxiety. According to an article in Everyday Health, “depression can also result in emotional eating, a common event in which the need to eat is not associated with physical hunger”. Besides analyzing your mental health state, Mr. Plaza may introduce creating a pre-packaged meal replacement plan. NYU Langone Health explained that one tactic in a medically supervised weight loss program is “using meal replacements may be recommended for people who need to safely lose a significant amount of weight in order to control other serious conditions, such as type 2 diabetes or hypertension.” It works through phases and Mr. Plaza will educate you on how each meal is beneficial to losing weight. You can read more here.
If changing your behavior and changing your diet does not work, Mr. Plaza may introduce his third tactic called pharmacotherapy. In short, this is when he would prescribe you medication to help with your weight loss journey. Some of these medications include:
- Phentermine products Adipex-P® or Suprenza® for short-term use
- Orlistat (Xenical® or Alli®)
- Lorcaserin HCI (Belviq®), Naltrexone HCI and bupropion HCI (CONTRAVE®)
- Phentermine- topiramate ER (Qsymia®)
- Liraglutide injection (Saxenda®) for chronic use
All of these above medications are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Within Cross Valley, Mr. Plaza tends to use Saxenda® the most, but the practice is able to obtain other medications as needed for your treatment plan.
Mr. Plaza is able to see his patients both in-person and virtually through telemedicine. Depending on how far you live from Newburgh NY, you may be subject to only seeing Mr. Plaza through telemedicine.
Cross Valley Health & Medicine is a primary care practice located in Newburgh NY, allowing for both virtual and in-person appointments. The practice has two medical providers on staff, a medical doctor who is dual board-certified in Addiction Medicine and Internal Medicine and a family nurse practitioner. Both providers are eager to see new patients for the following programs: Addiction Medicine, Behavioral Health Management, HIV/AIDS Care Management, Internal Medicine, Medical Marijuana Certifications, Medication-Assisted Treatment, STD/STI Care Management, and Weight Loss Management. If you are interested in becoming a patient of Cross Valley, please click here to access our online paperwork portal.