Obesity

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Cause/etiology

Obesity is caused by a mix of environmental and genetic factors.[1][2] One responsible gene is melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R).[3]

Treatment

The mainstay of treatment for obesity is an energy-limited diet and increased exercise. In studies, diet and exercise programs have consistently produced an average weight loss of approximately 8% of total body mass (excluding study drop-outs). While not all dieters will be satisfied with this outcome, studies have shown that a loss of as little as 5% of body mass can create large health benefits. A more intractable therapeutic problem appears to be weight loss maintenance. Of dieters who manage to lose 10% or more of their body mass in studies, 80-95% will regain that weight within two to five years, supporting the finding that the body has various mechanisms that maintain weight at a certain set point.Template:Fact

In a clinical practice guideline by the American College of Physicians, the following five recommendations are made:[4]

  1. People with a BMI of over 30 should be counseled on diet, exercise and other relevant behavioral interventions, and set a realistic goal for weight loss.
  2. If these goals are not achieved, pharmacotherapy can be offered. The patient needs to be informed of the possibility of side-effects and the unavailability of long-term safety and efficacy data.
  3. Drug therapy may consist of sibutramine, orlistat, phentermine, diethylpropion, fluoxetine, and bupropion. For more severe cases of obesity, stronger drugs such as amphetamine and methamphetamine may be used on a selective basis. Evidence is not sufficient to recommend sertraline, topiramate, or zonisamide.
  4. In patients with BMI > 40 who fail to achieve their weight loss goals (with or without medication) and who develop obesity-related complications, referral for bariatric surgery may be indicated. The patient needs to be aware of the potential complications.
  5. Those requiring bariatric surgery should be referred to high-volume referral centers, as the evidence suggests that surgeons who frequently perform these procedures have fewer complications.

A clinical practice guideline by the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) concluded that the evidence is insufficient to recommend for or against routine behavioral counseling to promote a healthy diet in unselected patients in primary care settings, but that intensive behavioral dietary counseling is recommended in those with hyperlipidemia and other known risk factors for cardiovascular and diet-related chronic disease. Intensive counseling can be delivered by primary care clinicians or by referral to other specialists, such as nutritionists or dietitians.[5][6]

Counseling

A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials concluded that "compared with usual care, dietary counseling interventions produce modest weight losses that diminish over time."[7]

Portion control plate

A randomized controlled trial found that patients using portion control plates and log books had more weight loss and less use of hypoglycemic drugs.[8]

Diets

Various dietary approaches have been proposed, some of which have been compared by randomized controlled trials:

"all 4 diets resulted in modest statistically significant weight loss at 1 year, with no statistically significant differences between diets"
"The higher discontinuation rates for the Atkins and Ornish diet groups suggest many individuals found these diets to be too extreme"

Low carbohydrate versus low fat

Many studies have focused on diets that reduce calories via a low-carbohydrate (Atkins diet, Zone diet) diet versus a low-fat diet (LEARN diet, Ornish diet). The Nurses' Health Study, an observational cohort study, found that low carbohydrate diets based on vegetable sources of fat and protein are associated with less coronary heart disease.[11]

A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials by the international Cochrane Collaboration in 2002 concluded[12] that fat-restricted diets are no better than calorie restricted diets in achieving long term weight loss in overweight or obese people.

A more recent meta-analysis that included randomized controlled trials published after the Cochrane review[13][14][10] found that "low-carbohydrate, non-energy-restricted diets appear to be at least as effective as low-fat, energy-restricted diets in inducing weight loss for up to 1 year. However, potential favorable changes in triglyceride and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol values should be weighed against potential unfavorable changes in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol values when low-carbohydrate diets to induce weight loss are considered."[15]

The Women's Health Initiative Randomized Controlled Dietary Modification Trial[16] found that a diet of total fat to 20% of energy and increasing consumption of vegetables and fruit to at least 5 servings daily and grains to at least 6 servings daily:

  • no reduction in cardiovascular disease[17]
  • an insignificant reduction in invasive breast cancer[18]
  • no reductions in colorectal cancer[19]

Additional recent randomized controlled trials have found that:

  • The choice of diet for a specific person may be influenced by measuring the invididual's insulin secretion:
In young adults "Reducing glycemic [carbohydrate] load may be especially important to achieve weight loss among individuals with high insulin secretion."[21] This is consistent with prior studies of diabetic patients in which low carbohydrate diets were more beneficial.[22][23]

Low glycemic index

"The glycaemic index factor is a ranking of foods based on their overall effect on blood sugar levels. Low glycaemic index foods, such as lentils, provide a slower more consistent source of glucose to the bloodstream, thereby stimulating less insulin release than high glycaemic index foods, such as white bread."[24][25]

The glycemic load is "the mathematical product of the glycemic index and the carbohydrate amount".[26]

In a randomized controlled trial that compared four diets that varied in carbohydrate amount and glycemic index found complicated results[27]:

  • Diet 1 and 2 were high carbohydrate (55% of total energy intake)
    • Diet 1 was high-glycemic index
    • Diet 2 was low-glycemic index
  • Diet 3 and 4 were high protein (25% of total energy intake)
    • Diet 3 was high-glycemic index
    • Diet 4 was low-glycemic index

Diets 2 and 3 lost the most weight and fat mass; however, low density lipoprotein fell in Diet 2 and rose in Diet 3. Thus the authors concluded that the high-carbohydrate, low-glycemic index diet was the most favorable.

A meta-analysis by the Cochrane Collaboration concluded that low glycemic index or low glycemic load diets led to more weight loss and better lipid profiles. However, the Cochrane Collaboration grouped low glycemic index and low glycemic load diets together and did not try to separate the effects of the load versus the index.[24]

Exercise

A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials by the international Cochrane Collaboration found that "exercise combined with diet resulted in a greater weight reduction than diet alone".[28]

Drugs

A systematic review found that the average weight loss after at least one year was:[29]

  • Orlistat: 2.9 kg, but produced gastrointestinal side effects.
  • Sibutramine: 4.2 kg, but raised blood pressure and pulse.
  • Rimonabant: 4.7-kg, but associated with increased psychiatric disorders.

About a third of patients discontinued treatment.[29]

Medication most commonly prescribed for diet/exercise-resistant obesity is orlistat (Xenical, which reduces intestinal fat absorption by inhibiting pancreatic lipase) and sibutramine (Reductil, Meridia, an anorectic). For patients with diabetes mellitus type 2, metformin (Glucophage) can assist in weight loss—rather than sulfonylurea derivatives and insulin, which often lead to further weight gain. The thiazolidinediones (rosiglitazone or pioglitazone) can cause slight weight gain, but decrease the "pathologic" form of abdominal fat, and so may help obese diabetics.

Bariatric surgery

Bariatric surgery (or "weight loss surgery") is the use of surgical interventions in the treatment of obesity. As every surgical intervention may lead to complications, it is regarded as a last resort when dietary modification and pharmacological treatment have proven to be unsuccessful.

Types of surgery

Weight loss surgery relies on various principles. Band surgery is reversible, while bowel shortening operations are not. Some procedures can be performed laparoscopically.

  • Predominantly malabsorptive procedures Others procedures also reduce the length of bowel that food will be in contact with, directly reducing absorption (gastric bypass surgery).

Complications

Complications from weight loss surgery are frequent.[30]

Effectiveness of surgery

Weight loss

In general, the malabsorptive procedures lead to more weight loss than the restrictive procedures. A meta-analysis by the American College of Physicians reports the following weight loss at 36 months:[31]

  • Biliopancreatic diversion - 53 kg
  • Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) - 41 kg
    • Open - 42 kg
    • Laparoscopic - 38 kg
  • Adjustable gastric banding - 35 kg
  • Vertical banded gastroplasty - 32 kg
Mortality

Two studies report decrease in mortality from bariatric surgery.[32][33] In the Swedish randomized controlled trial, patients with a body mass index of 34 or more for men and 38 or more for women underwent various types of bariatric surgery and were followed for a mean of 11 years. Surgery patients had 5.0% mortality while control patients had 6.3% mortality. This means 75 patients must be treated to avoid one death after 11 years (number needed to treat is 77).[32] In a Utah retrospective cohort study that followed patients for a mean of 7 years after various types of gastric bypass, surgery patients had 0.4% mortality while control patients had 0.6% mortality.[33]

Prevention

New York City has proposed that chain restaurants display calorie information on their menus or menu boards.[34]

References

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