4 Chronic Conditions That Benefit from Weight Loss

Roughly three-quarters of Americans are overweight or obese, and that means they’re also at increased risk of weight-related health problems that can lead to decreased quality of life and even premature death.

The problem: While gaining weight is fairly easy, losing those extra pounds can be really hard, especially as you get older. Medical weight loss can help.

Featuring a custom, patient-centered eating plan, medication, and important lifestyle changes, medical weight loss focuses on the challenges that keep you from losing those pounds. Ongoing support helps you achieve your goals and maintain them over time.

At I & B Medical Associates, our team routinely prescribes medical weight loss to help patients manage chronic medical conditions that pose serious health risks. In this post, learn about four common weight-related complications that a custom weight plan can improve.

1. High blood pressure

The blood circulating through your veins exerts force or pressure against the walls of your arteries. High blood pressure (hypertension) happens when the pressure inside your arteries exceeds normal levels.

Hypertension is a leading cause of heart disease, heart attacks, and strokes and can damage your eyes, kidneys, and brain. Being overweight increases your risk of hypertension, along with high cholesterol, a common risk factor for high blood pressure.

Losing weight lowers your risk of hypertension and high cholesterol and their complications.

2. Type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is a metabolic disorder that affects how your body uses insulin and blood sugar (glucose). Elevated glucose levels can cause organ damage and high blood pressure, leading to issues like kidney damage, vision loss, nerve damage, heart attack, and stroke.

Being overweight or obese dramatically increases your risk of Type 2 diabetes and its complications. That’s why medical weight loss is frequently part of diabetes management.

Losing weight helps your body use insulin more efficiently, which helps regulate glucose levels and improve your overall health.

3. Osteoarthritis (OA)

More than 32 million Americans have osteoarthritis, the most common type of arthritis, which results from years of wear-and-tear on your joints. Being overweight places excess pressure and strain on your joints, speeding up the joint destruction that’s the hallmark of OA.

Being overweight by 10 pounds can put up to 50 extra pounds of pressure on weight-bearing joints, like your knees. Losing weight reduces that pressure, relieving pain and stiffness, improving mobility, and slowing disease progression.

4. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)

OSA is a chronic condition that interrupts your breathing while you sleep. These interruptions are so brief that you often don’t wake up. They can happen hundreds of times a night.

Being overweight or obese is a main cause of OSA. By carrying extra pounds, fat deposits around your neck and throat can narrow your airway. When your muscles relax at night, fatty tissue relaxes too, descending into your airways and blocking breathing temporarily.

In addition to daytime sleepiness and concentration issues, OSA increases your risks of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and Type 2 diabetes. Losing weight can improve your sleep and daytime wakefulness and lower your risk of OSA-related complications.

Improve your health with medical weight loss

If you’re overweight or obese, losing weight can dramatically improve your health — but losing those pounds isn’t easy. Customized medical weight loss can help you drop those extra pounds and enjoy the benefits of successful weight management.

To learn more about medical weight loss and how it can help you, call 786-321-2399 or book an appointment online today at I & B Medical Associates in Miami, Florida.