When people think about obesity, they don’t realize that fat tissue is more than just an inert group of fat cells sitting in the body doing nothing. It turns out that fat is very metabolically active, it does a lot of different things in the body including secretion of hormones that when a person is healthy are helpful to ward off infection and manage normal stresses in the body. 

However, unfortunately when too much fat tissue is present, excessive production of these hormones including substances that are very inflammatory to the body may occur. And this inflammation associated with obesity may increase the risk of heart disease. 
-Jim Januzzi, MD, Cardiologist

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Inflammation | Dr. Jim Januzzi

It’s vital to recognize the change that has occurred in medicine about how we think about what obesity is. Previously obesity was thought to be a choice, rather than it being a true physical disease. Obesity is not a choice, it’s not a moral failing. 
- Jim Januzzi, MD | Cardiologist

Disease | Dr. Jim Januzzi

There’s no question that the current treatments are allowing people to change their lives. People will tell me, I’m back to who I was. This is who I used to be. And then something happened. We know that what happened was the disease of obesity. And now that we can treat it, we can get people back to the person they were. 
– Lou Aronne, MD, Obesity Medicine Specialist

Treatments | Dr. Lou Aronne

The biggest development for the treatment of obesity in the last few years is the anti-obesity medications. In the past there have been medicines that have done an okay job at helping people lose weight, but they were rarely used. We now have medication that is as effective as surgery. 
– Lou Aronne, MD, Obesity Medicine Specialist

Solutions | Dr. Lou Aronne

With the new highly effective medications people now understand that obesity is treatable – so what are we treating? 

It’s a disease that we are treating. If there’s one thing to get across that is so incredibly important to understand about obesity is that obesity isn’t just one simple straight forward disease. Obesity is complex, obesity is chronic, so what it really takes for people to lose weight and keep it off is figuring out a very personalized plan that considers all the factors that lead to obesity, and to develop a plan that is doable for the individual and most importantly, sustainable.  
– Katherine Saunders, MD, Obesity Medicine Specialist

Treatable | Dr. Katherine Saunders

People just make assumptions about other people based on their weight. And it’s really hard to get beyond that even among healthcare providers. There’s a test you can do - it’s called the Implicit Bias Test where you make very quick associations. And even among the most empathetic, compassionate obesity medicine providers we still have some weight bias.  
– Katherine Saunders, MD, Obesity Medicine Specialist

Implicit Bias | Dr. Katherine Saunders

When we’re thinking about stigma, it’s not just what we say, it’s also what we do. 

Patients often see us before they hear us, so when they come into a provider’s office it’s important to create a climate that is accepting for every patient regardless of their weight. Looking at things like the chairs that a person may sit in, or the doors that they may walk through, or the exam tables, or even something as simple as weighing on a scale or undressing in an area that’s private for them. Feeling comfortable is extremely important in helping to decrease stigma, decrease bias and helping a patient seek care for their weight.  
– Dr. Tiffany Lowe Clayton, Obesity Medicine Specialist

Doctor Bias | Dr. Tiffany Lowe Clayton

One of the things that I see as an obesity medicine specialist is that people will often come in and say that they’ve tried everything that they could possibly do to lose weight. 

Most people don’t want to have an unhealthy weight. Many times, they just don’t feel well but because of the stigma that they face in society and because of how they feel about it themselves often times they come in in a state of being discouraged, they may self-condemn themselves. We know that we need to teach them that it’s so much more than “Eat Less and Move More.” It’s very complex, it’s something that we need to help our patients through, they need support, and they need someone who is going to be able to listen to them and help them manage this chronic disease state.  
– Dr. Tiffany Lowe Clayton, Obesity Medicine Specialist

Mediflix Minute | Obesity & Weight