Kansas City, Kan- Key points from today’s guests:
Cynthia Zabroske, used GLP-1 drug for weight loss
- Cynthia has been dealing with the natural stages of life – getting older and gaining weight – but she wanted help with a healthier lifestyle.
- She was at the highest weight she had ever been last year at age 60 and she was looking to make a changes.
- Her doctor prescribed a GLP-1 medication, but it was a type she was unable to tolerate. There are many GLP-1 medications and so the doctor changed her prescription.
- The treatment has helped her get into the right mindset and make positive changes.
- With her weight loss success, exercise has become fun. Pickleball is now a favorite activity, along with walking and weights.
- She definitely sees food differently and she is more selective in what she eats.
Dr. Johanna Finkel, MD, OBGYN, obesity medicine specialist, The University of Kansas Health System
- Someone with a BMI between 27 to 29.9 with a co-morbidity – and something related to their weight such as high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, sleep apnea – qualify for these weight loss medications. Or if they have a BMI over 30.
- I have conversations with patients on weight loss drugs about adding more protein to the diet and making good food choices.
- There is a concern with bone density, especially with older women, so strength training and maintaining vitamin D levels are important especially when taking GLP-1 drugs.
- Dr. Finkle recommends getting screened before beginning these types of drugs.
- Expand your health goals based on your entire health profile – How are you feeling? Are you more active? Are you better able to run around with your grandkids?
- Focus on the health measures you want to improve.
Dr. John Thyfault, Ph. D., director, KU Diabetes Institute; co-principal investigator, Kansas Center for Metabolism and Obesity Research
- When you eat a meal, you produce a hormone called insulin. Insulin tells the cells in your body to take glucose out of the bloodstream and store them away or use them.
- GLP-1 helps the pancreas make more insulin.
- The drugs can make you more full and the digestive process slows down.
- In a select trial with 17,000 people with cardiovascular issues, the trial found that GLP-1 drugs lowered mortality for about 10 percent of people in the study, so there could be some additional benefits.
- This is a great tool for people who are battling with obesity.
- We need to pay more attention to research around menopause as well.
Katy Harvey, binge eating specialist
- With eating disorders, it is about constant chatter in the brain.
- A binge eating disorder is a type of eating disorder where people have strong compulsions toward eating and they may experience a loss of control around food.
- We see a lot of medical co-morbidities with binge eating – diabetes, insulin resistance, and cardiac disease.
- These drugs are helping people in meaningful ways with their eating disorders.
- There is some research around the use of these drugs and improvement in mental health.
