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Women's Health

11 Low-Carb Snacks That Can Help You Lose Weight Women's Health Even though the FDA has yet to legally define what "low-carb" means, she adds, many weight-loss diets have defined it as anywhere between 50 to 150 grams of carbs per day. So when selecting a low-carb snack, aim for 15 grams or less of total carbs, ...

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11 Low-Carb Snacks That Can Help You Lose Weight - Women's Health

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LONDON: Looking to shed those extra kilos? If so, stop drinking that soda or other diet soft drinks that may cause people to pile on the pounds rather than lose weight, a study has showed.

According to researchers, many people turn to carbonated spring water and low-calorie fizzy pop, believing these to be a healthy alternative to sugary drinks or alcohol.

However, researchers led by the Palestinian Birzeit University revealed that the aerated drinks actually cause people to feel empty. This may further lead to over-eating and thus aid in increasing their weight, express.co.uk reported on Monday.

This may be due to the carbon dioxide, which gives such drinks their bubbles, that triggers a hunger hormone called ghrelin, the researchers said.

For the study, the team looked at the effect in rats and found those given flat sugary drinks alongside their normal diet put on no more weight than those given still water.

But those who were given fizzy drinks -- including zero-calorie versions containing artificial sweeteners -- put on weight, significantly more than those given flat drinks and after a year, they also showed signs of chronic obesity, with fat building up around their vital organs, the researchers noted.

In addition, the levels of ghrelin were also found to be significantly higher in rats after ingesting a carbonated drink.

A similar spike in ghrelin levels were found among humans who had sparkling water, the researchers noted.

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Decoded: Diet soda does not help you lose weight - Economic Times

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One day, my kids wanted to play on the trampoline and I couldnt, remembers Megan Politi.

The Whetstone mother of four says that seemingly small event was the impetus for her to adopt lasting lifestyle changes.

For some, the pressure for a summer body overrides the desire for overall improved health. For Politi, the two were hand in hand.

At the start of her weight loss journey three years ago, Megan -- who describes her height as fun size weighed 175 pounds. She immediately set a goal of losing between 40 and 50 pounds.

Shane Early aka The Diet Doc of Sierra Vista helps his clients become better versions of themselves using science based techniques that ensure both weight loss and health and wellness. He says mindfulness is the first step to getting a handle on diet.

It can be as simple as tracking the foods and times we eat, he said. Oftentimes, we do things habitually and don't even realize were doing them.

He goes on to say overly restrictive diets can lead to phenomenon he calls super compensation.

You may lose eight pounds on that restrictive diet, but once you start eating again, youll gain back that eight and then some, he said.

While its nearly impossible to out exercise a bad diet, physical activity is a key component to lasting change. Early says many of the same principles for maintaining a good diet apply to a successful exercise program.

Consistency is key, but choose activities you enjoy. This is what makes the exercise and weight loss sustainable, he said, adding that running, weight lifting, swimming and even playing with grandchildren are all options.

Really, anything that gets you moving more than you otherwise would works.

Politi makes fitness a family affair. I love when my boys join me, she said. When shes not taking them to local parks, her children often accompany her to group fitness classes around town.

But that doesnt mean she hasnt fallen for the occasional get slim quick shortcut.

Oh, there was my slimming colon cleanse ordeal, laughs Politi. Worst mistake of my life! I dont think I even left the bathroom, much less the house for a whole day.

After that escapade, I was like no, were just going to have to do it the right way.

The Diet Doc has heard of the cleanses and more.

Oh! There are so many, he said of the gimmicks. Shakes, juicing and wraps seem to popular right now. Ive heard of coffee enemas, water pills, so many kinds of pills...

In the end, The Diet Doc says a successful weight loss journey includes consistent exercise, a sensible diet and forgiveness.

People tend to be hard on themselves when they mess up, he shares. I ask them if they would take to their best friends the same way they talk to themselves.

Politi agrees. Diet and exercise have helped her lose 30 pounds so far.

Negative self-talk doesnt work, she said. Everybody is going to try that quick fix or a crazy diet.

Eventually, you realize youre just going to have to work for it.

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No magic pill: Diet and exercise equal successful weight loss - Sierra Vista Herald

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Sonia Azad, WFAA 5:45 PM. EDT May 16, 2017

Most of us at some point in our lives have tried something to lose weight. So we can relate to Monica Fair.

Ive always had this 12 to 15 pounds that I couldn't get rid of," said Fair, 47, who has experimented with trendy exercise programs and fad diets to no avail.

I never could lose the weight, said Fair. As a matter of fact, I would gain muscle which would push the fat out and make me look bigger."

It turns out the answer may be on the inside.

DNA testing

"We're looking at genes that are responsible for your body composition, said Kurt Johnsen, co-founder of a Dallas-based company called Simplified Genetics.

Hes a Kung Fu master, founder of American Power Yoga, and overall a pretty fit guy with a passion for helping others get healthy, too.

I'm not a doctor, I'm not a scientist, said Johnsen, who sat down with WFAA at Plum Yoga, along Dallas popular stretch of Lower Greenville.I want to make sure what we do makes a difference."

Since 2012, Johnsen says his company has tested the DNA of 11,000 people, analyzing genes to match you with the best type of workout, diet, and vitamins for your body.

This is the most revolutionary thing I have seen in over 35 years," said Leisa Hart, the blonde bombshell behindBuns of Steel. Now shes 49, a mom, and still a beautiful fitness trainer.

This is my job! I'm in good shape, said Hart, admitting that there is a side of her that the public didn't see.

Working out that often and that intensely -- my face would be red, my head pounding. I would have to take a nap many times throughout the week, she recalled. That was my body screaming at me saying -- please just slow down! You're not supposed to work out that hard that often."

Then Hart got genetic testing, which is really just a simple cheek swab. The swab is sent to a lab in Louisiana where your DNA is extracted and prepared for analysis. Results are put through algorithms that generate specific recommendations for you.

I found out that when I was working out intensely, I was working out at much too high of a heart rate and I was working out for too long of a duration, said Hart.

Based on her results, she actually needed to do less.

To the eye, 53-year-old Rosanne Lewis is similar to Hart. But her genetic makeup is completely different.

I stopped eating all this bread because I thought it wasn't very good for me. I started having nuts instead or I would eat cheese -- things I thought were healthier-- and I gained four pounds."

Lewis results showed she can get away with mostly low-intensity exercise. But this type of DNA analysis goes deeper: identifying your idea diet. The bread-lover, Lewis, is more sensitive to fats than carbohydrates, meaning she can eat her bread and do yoga in peace.

I know now for the rest of my life what I'm supposed to do, said Lewis.

With people putting a lot of stock -- and money -- into these tests, we wanted to get a doctors take on them.

This is the start, at the very least, of something very interesting, said Dr. Leslie Cler, chief medical officer of Methodist Dallas Medical Center.

Dr. Cler told us that this type of genetics testing has been on the market -- offered directly to consumers -- for a decade, but still is in its infancy.

Further, according to Cler, while different companies may get you the same results, their recommendations are open to interpretation.

I don't think these tests are recommending anything dangerous to the patients -- not at all, said Cler. But as a doctor, if you came to see me and you said, I heard about this test, if I get it do you think that I'd be likely to lose weight? The answer is -- I don't know."

Fair enough. But losing weight isn't always the goal. Remember Hart -- who scaled back on her workouts since getting her results?

I feel so much better, said Hart. I feel like I could actually do more but I don't have to.

Then theres Fair, who went from a size 10 to a size 6 after putting her results to use. She added fish to her vegetarian diet, and now incorporates a blend of low-and-high intensity workouts.

It was life-changing to be able to actually get to my goal," Fair said.

But what works for Fair wont work for everyone. Makes perfect sense if it boils down to DNA.

Medical Study 1 by wfaachannel8 on Scribd

Medical Study 2 by wfaachannel8 on Scribd

2017 WFAA-TV

Originally posted here:
DNA test tells you which workout, diet is perfect for you - First Coast News

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May 16, 2017 6:09 PM

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) Low-fat, no fat youve had those drummed into your head so often that you probably think thats the only way to lose weight and be kind to your heart.

But lately, people have been going back to full-fat foods. As CBS2s Dr. Max Gomez explained, doctors agree with the trend sort of.

There are two reasons for the low-fat and non-fat diet recommendations. One is for heart health, and the other is for weight loss.

For years weve been told that the same foods are best for both goals. It turns out that might not be true.

Fat is high in calories very high, its also what clogs our arteries. So why are so many people going in the other direction and putting fat back in their diets?

I feel like low-fat food they take out the good fat in it, so I do mostly full-fat, Maria Batista said.

Diet experts say theres a good reason to put some fat back in our diets.

Higher fat intake gives us a greater sense of fullness and you can cut down on consumption of starches and sweets, Dr. Louis Aronne, Weill Cornell Medicine said.

Dr. Aronne, an internationally known obesity expert said that eating somewhat less fat is a good way to lose weight for some people, but theres a problem.

What are you going to substitute for the fat, he said, If you substitute fat with starches and sugars, youre probably going to gain weight.

Theres a better way to think of things.

I dont think of it as low-fat, I think of it as good and bad fat, Lauren Prince said.

In fact, there are large studies that show people who ate diets very, very high in good fats olive oil and nuts actually lost weight, and reduced their risk for heart attack and stroke.

The critical factor is what you combine those good fats with.

The lethal combo is fat plus carbs. So you can have protein and carbs, you can have protein and fat, but you cant have fat and carbs, Dr. Aronne said.

The more processed those carbs are white flour, white pasta, sugar, etc. the worse the combination for your heart and waist.

The bottom line; no one diet is best for everyone, if one doesnt work try a different one, and some fat is okay.

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Experts: There's A Good Reason To Put Fat Back In Your Diet - CBS New York

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May 16, 2017 by Megan Ritchie Credit: CC0 Public Domain

A study in mice finds that development of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) could be arrested by switching from a high-glycemic diet (starches as are found in white bread) to a low-glycemic (starches found in whole grains). For the same amount of total carbohydrate, high-glycemic diets release sugar into the blood stream more rapidly than low-glycemic diets.

Researchers at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University also believe that the study, published in PNAS, points to potential biomarkers of AMD. These can be used to predict when a person is at risk for this disease, which is the leading cause of vision loss in adults over the age of 50.

In early stages, AMD results in blurred vision. In advanced stages, AMD can make life very challenging. The National Eye Institute estimates that the number of people with AMD will double by 2050, from 2.07 million to 5.44 million. In the United States, white Americans are most likely to develop AMD and, in 2010, 2.5 percent of white adults aged 50 and older had AMD. The disease is typically diagnosed only when vision loss has already begun. Unfortunately, there is no cure.

Using an aged mouse model, the researchers randomized 59 mice into two groups: 19 low-glycemic fed mice and 40 high-glycemic fed mice. The diets differed only in carbohydrate source. Carbohydrates comprised 45 percent of the diet in both cases. The carbohydrate source varied in the ratio of amylose and amylopectin, the two starches used for this work. The high-glycemic starch was 100 percent amylopectin while low-glycemic starch was 70 percent amylose and 30 percent amylopectin.

After six months, the high-glycemic group of mice either remained on the high-glycemic diet or were switched to the low-glycemic diet.

The researchers observed that a high-glycemic diet resulted in the development of many AMD features, including loss of function of cells at the back of the eye called retinal pigmented epithelial atrophy (RPE) and of the cells that capture light, called photoreceptors precursors to dry AMD whereas a low-glycemic diet did not. Importantly, switching from a high-glycemic diet to a low-glycemic diet arrested damage to the retina.

"We were genuinely surprised that the retinas from mice whose diets were switched from high- to low-glycemic index diets midway through the study were indistinguishable from those fed low-glycemic index diet throughout the study. We hadn't anticipated that dietary change might repair the accumulated damage in the RPE so effectively. Our experimental results suggest that switching from a high-glycemic diet to a low-glycemic one is beneficial to eye health in people that are heading towards developing AMD," said lead author Sheldon Rowan, Ph.D., scientist in the Laboratory for Nutrition and Vision Research at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University.

Potential Biomarkers

The researchers also identified potential biomarkers of AMD features. Such biomarkers can be used to predict who will get the disease. The biomarkers included advanced glycation end products (AGEs) that are formed when sugar metabolites react with proteins. They also included oxidized fats, C3-carnitine and serotonin levels. The low-glycemic diet limited the accumulation of AGEs and the oxidation of long-chain polyunsaturated fats. AGEs can be a factor in aging and the development of many degenerative diseases, in addition to AMD. Fat oxidation results in the degradation of fats in cell membranes, which can lead to cell damage.

The researchers also found that higher levels of C3-carnitine and serotonin in the blood were related to consuming the low-glycemic index diet and less AMD features. C3-carnitine, also known as propionylcarnitine, plays a role in fatty acid metabolism in cells and is found in many low-glycemic foods, such as whole wheat and legumes. Serotonin is made in the intestine, in response to signals that are produced by microbes in the gut. The researchers showed that the composition of gut microbes, collectively called the gut microbiome, changes in response to the diet. Higher serotonin levels are associated with retinal health and reduced frequency of AMD features. The researchers identified several other metabolites that were associated with protection from AMD and with the composition of the gut microbiome, which together led the authors to speculate on a potential gut-retina axis that may communicate diet to eye health.

Altogether, the findings suggest that changes in metabolism associated with the different glycemia diets, AGEs accumulation, production and oxidation of fats, and C3-carnitine and serotonin levels are related to development of AMD features.

These findings add to a growing body of research on the relation between dietary carbohydrate control and the development of AMD, led by senior author Allen Taylor, Ph.D., senior scientist and director of the Laboratory for Nutrition and Vision Research at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University. Taylor holds secondary positions as professor of ophthalmology at Tufts University School of Medicine and also serves as faculty in the Biochemistry and Cell, Molecular & Developmental Biology programs at the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts.

"Currently, there are no early biomarkers to anticipate the disease. Our findings show an interaction between dietary carbohydrates, the gut microbiome, specific biochemical molecules, and AMD features. This work should lead to new approaches to understand, diagnose and treat early AMD perhaps before it affects vision. Already anticipated by our human epidemiologic studies, the findings imply that we can develop dietary interventions aimed at preventing the progression of AMD, a disease which impacts millions and costs billions worldwide," said Taylor.

"Clinical tests are already available to test for some of these potential biomarkers. A screening of C3-carnitine levels is a standard part of the newborn screening profile, so it would not be challenging to adapt the existing screening to evaluate levels in AMD. There are also efficient clinical measures for serotonin. AGEs, however, are still emerging biomarkers, and have not been used on large-scale human studies yet. Even so, AGEs are among the most exciting potential AMD biomarkers, since we understand their damaging molecular effects very clearly," added Rowan.

Explore further: Low glycemic index diet linked to drop in uric acid levels

More information: Sheldon Rowan et al. Involvement of a gutretina axis in protection against dietary glycemia-induced age-related macular degeneration, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2017). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1702302114

(HealthDay)Reducing the dietary glycemic index is associated with a reduction in uric acid levels among overweight and obese adults, according to a study published in the May issue of Arthritis & Rheumatology.

(HealthDay)Patients with acne vulgaris have significantly higher glycemic index and glycemic load levels and significantly lower serum adiponectin levels, according to a study published in the July issue of the Journal ...

The glycemic index of a given food, a value that aims to quantify how fast blood sugar rises after eating it, can vary by an average of 20 percent within an individual and 25 percent among individuals, report scientists from ...

Feeding older mice a lower glycemic index (GI) diet consisting of slowly-digested carbohydrates delays the onset of age-related, sight-threatening retinal lesions, according to a new study from the Laboratory for Nutrition ...

(HealthDay)A one-week high glycemic index (HGI) diet increases hepatic fat and glycogen stores in healthy adults compared with a low glycemic index (LGI) diet, according to a study published online Sept. 4 in Diabetes, ...

The brave new world of 3-D printed organs now includes implanted ovary structures that, true to their design, actually ovulate, according to a study by Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and McCormick School ...

A mutation in an immune system gene rapidly rose in frequency in Southeast Asia approximately 50,000 years ago because it likely conferred protection against leprosy, which spread to the region from Africa around the same ...

The blood-brain barrier is biology's proverbial double-edged sword.

A team of University of Kentucky researchers has discovered that macrophages, a type of immune cell that clears debris at injury sites during normal wound healing and helps produce scar tissue, are required for complex tissue ...

A study in mice finds that development of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) could be arrested by switching from a high-glycemic diet (starches as are found in white bread) to a low-glycemic (starches found in whole grains). ...

Stem cells that seem key for maintaining and repairing the body's knee joints have been identified by scientists.

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If we want to cut the environmental impact of livestock, switching to insects and imitation meat products is our best bet, according to a new report.

The inevitability of turning to insects to feed the world's growing population has been looming for a while. And now we finally have some data on how much this shift would actually help the planet.

As more people move to live in cities and have higher incomes, meat consumption is steadily growing, which sucks up an enormous amount of resources. Livestock takes up 60 percent of all agricultural land, and on top of that a third of all crops we grow are livestock feed.

For now, projections are based on the assumption that this current trend will continue. But what if our preferences for meat changed - how would that impact sustainability?

With this question in mind, a team led by scientists from the University of Edinburgh in the UK analysed various alternatives to conventional animal products, looking specifically at their impact on agricultural land use.

The researchers examined what would happen if we swapped half of our current animal products to one of these alternatives: edible insects;lab-made meat;imitation meat and soy-based products; or aquaculture.

Rather than trying to predict our future, their goal was to simply provide new data on potential scenarios of cutting back rampant meat production.

"The approach is explorative, rather than predictive, and assumes half of existing animal products are substituted by each alternative food, to provide at least equal energy and protein," they write.

"The 50 percent replacement assumption is largely arbitrary, but is simply used as a reference point against which to compare alternative diets."

These alternative diets also included several unlikely scenarios, such as calculating what would happen if people around the world all shifted to the average Indian diet (low in animal products), or the average US diet (high in animal products).

After standardising and comparing the options, the researchers arrived at the most sustainable ones.

They found that if we replaced half of all animal product use with either soybean curd (tofu) or mealworm larvae products, we'd save a third of the land currently used for the world's agriculture.

And that would reduce knock-on effects such as greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation.

As the team point out, this is just a benchmark. Replace more or less, and the land savings will scale accordingly.

But that doesn't mean they're advocating that we all shift exclusively from steak to mealworms.

Instead, you can view this report as a tool for assessing our future options. If helpful scenarios include growing more worms and fewer sheep, then perhaps it's time to start seriously considering it.

"The efficiency of insects and their ability to convert agricultural by-products and food waste into food, suggests further research into insect production is warranted," the team writes.

Besides, the idea of crunching on crickets is stomach-churning for a relatively small minority of western cultures, while people elsewhere have already been eating bugs for millennia.

"It is very widespread, especially in Asia, and not seen as unusual in those cultures," lead researcher Peter Alexander told Damian Carrington at The Guardian.

"We are not trying to mandate or even suggest some policy that you eat insects every day [but] our work indicates the potential benefits that are there."

And if you're one of those people holding out for lab-grown meat, the news is not so good - according to the report, there are still too many unknowns with this technology, which makes it difficult to assess its potential sustainability. For now, cow-less burgers are still not very cost-efficient or nutritious.

If you care about increasing the sustainability of our land so that we can keep feeding future generations, looks like the best answer right now is to actively work for a new balance between livestock and its substitutes.

"A mix of small changes in consumer behaviour, such as replacing beef with chicken, reducing food waste and potentially introducing insects more commonly into diets, would help achieve land savings and a more sustainable food system," says Alexander.

The report was published in Global Food Security.

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Switching just 50% of our meat to insects can seriously reduce land use - ScienceAlert

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FOX31 Denver

New weight loss therapy offered in Colorado FOX31 Denver It does really help people make those behavior changes so that they can have long term weight loss success. Dr. Sullivan said this balloon procedure is different from the liquid filled balloons because there is no surgery or downtime required. There ...

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Women's Health

5 Weight-Loss Mistakes You Didn't Know You Were Making Women's Health But while sticking to a g-free diet might help you shed a few pounds at first, it's not a sustainable choice for keeping the weight off. In the long term, it doesn't really teach you anything about the diet, and, in fact, going gluten-free can put you ...

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5 Weight-Loss Mistakes You Didn't Know You Were Making - Women's Health

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Updated 23 hours ago

Doctors who specialize in weight loss say people need to view obesity as a disease, not as a reflection of lifestyle, to start to slow the spread of the dangerous condition.

Like other diseases, obesity has an agent food that in the right environment strikes genetically susceptible hosts and makes damaging changes to the way their bodies function, according to authors of a World Obesity Federation paper in the latest edition of journal Obesity Reviews.

The American health care system has not fully embraced that view, said Pittsburgh doctors who specialize in weight loss.

It's a major burden on people's health, on the economy and on society, and I don't think we have enough resources to tackle it, said Dr. George Eid, assistant director of Allegheny Health Network's Bariatric and Metabolic Institute.

More than a third of U.S. adults are obese, according to the National Institutes of Health. The mother of all diseases, as Eid calls it, increases risks of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, liver and kidney problems, stroke, mental illness and other deadly diseases.

The characterization of obesity as a disease goes back at least 250 years, to when Scottish physiologist Dr. Malcolm Flemyng said it tended to shorten life by obstructing the free exercise of the animal functions, according to the paper. The American Medical Association recognized it as a disease in 2013 and other organizations followed.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services eliminated language saying obesity is not a disease in 2004, but hasn't fully recognized it as a disease, according to the paper. Insurance coverage for FDA-approved weight loss medications remains spotty, doctors said.

Once obesity reaches a certain threshold typically a body-mass index of 30 it changes the body in ways that make it extremely difficult for people to return to a healthy weight, said Dr. Vicki March, medical director of the comprehensive weight loss program at Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC.

Long-term studies have shown that obese people reach a set point weight to which their bodies tend to return gradually over time. At a BMI of 30, which would be about 200 pounds for someone who is 5'8, changes in metabolism and hormone production affect caloric needs, March said. People who lose dozens of pounds by limiting their calories to 1,500 per day might never return to eating 2,000 calories per day without regaining weight, she said.

At BMIs of 25 to 30, people can often reach a healthy weight through diet and exercise, she said.

Weight-loss medications, which are indicated for people with a BMI of 27 or higher, can help people lose up to about 15 percent of their body weight, she said. Those with a BMI above 35 often need surgery, she said.

Lynne Erlich, 72, of Robinson Township, tried every diet that came down the pike after she gained weight in her 50s and 60s following a divorce. Erlich, an administrator of liability for Eat'n Park, said she would lose 10 pounds and the weight would return, over and over.

She had high blood pressure and her knees hurt and she worried she would get diabetes. She asked her doctor about gastric bypass surgery, and underwent the operation five years ago. She lost 83 pounds.

Now she feels full after eating less food, she said. She runs up flights of stairs for exercise. She eats better, having made adjustments to her diet such as replacing mashed potatoes with mashed cauliflower. She participates in UPMC BodyChangers, a group networking program to support weight loss, and keeps her weight around 140 pounds.

I'm a much happier person, Erlich said.

Jim Delman, 62, of Bridgeport, Ohio, had the surgery after being overweight for most of his life. He graduated high school weighing 185 pounds and at his heaviest weighed about 420 pounds, Delman said.

The weight wore his knee down to the point where it would need to be replaced. He saw a need to change, and he and his wife both decided to try surgery. Dr. Eid performed bariatric surgery on him February of last year, he said. He lost 50 pounds before the surgery and since then has dropped his weight to about 172 pounds.

Now he rarely eats bread, choosing salads and vegetables instead. He drinks water instead of soda or beer. He said he went to the gym every day but one in April.

Doctors' discussions with overweight patients often go no further than telling them they need to lose weight, said Dr. Mark Woodburn, a primary care physician with Pittsburgh-based Genesis Medical Associates.

Of the 86 million Americans estimated to be obese, only about 3 million are treated for it, he said.

Imagine if that was our treatment rate for hypertension; you'd be an awful doc if you were only treating three percent of your hypertension patients, he said.

Each of the doctors said insurers rarely cover weight-loss medications, nor does Medicare.

Highmark Inc. spokeswoman Wendy Morphew said in an email that the insurer covers the drugs for people with severe obesity and in some cases for people with moderate obesity. Employers may choose not to include the drugs in their plans, Morphew said in the email.

UPMC Health Plan spokeswoman Gina Pferdehirt said in a statement that the insurer doesn't cover the drugs, but is considering it.

UPMC Health Plan is collaborating with physicians and our specialists to evaluate new and existing anti-obesity medications to determine what is both safe and effective for our members, Pferdehirt said in the statement.

Woodburn said he took an interest in treating obesity more aggressively after realizing how differently he was treating obesity than hypertension and other weight-related diseases. Now he said he makes a point of setting up follow-up appointments to talk about obesity, refers patients to dietitians and follows obesity treatment guidelines that he said many doctors haven't learned.

Any doctor can incorporate this, he said. You just have to be comfortable bringing it up with patients.

Wes Venteicher is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 412-380-5676, wventeicher@tribweb.com or via Twitter @wesventeicher.

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Obesity as a disease - Tribune-Review

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