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What
is Obesity?
Obesity is a chronic, debilitating, and potentially fatal
disease that requires
treatment by a physician trained in bariatric medicine. It
is marked by an excess accumulation of body fat sufficient
to endanger health.
Obesity results from a complex interaction of genetic, behavioral,
and environmental factors, causing an imbalance between energy
intake and energy expenditure.
Obesity has been recognized since 1985 as a chronic disease
and is the second
leading cause of preventable death, exceeded only by cigarette
smoking. |
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What
is a Bariatrician?
A bariatrician is a licensed physician (M.D. or D.O.) who has
received special
training in bariatric medicine - the medical treatment of obesity
and its associated conditions. Bariatricians address the obese
patient with a comprehensive program of diet and nutrition,
exercise, lifestyle changes, and when indicated, the prescription
of appetite suppressants and other appropriate medications.
(The word bariatric stems from the Greek word, barros, which
means heavy or large.)
Any licensed physician can offer a medical weight loss program
to patients;
however, through an extensive continuing medical education program,
members of the American Society of Bariatric Physicians have
been exposed
to specialized knowledge, tools, and techniques which enable
them to
design medical weight loss programs tailored to the needs of
individual
patients and to modify these programs as needed as treatment
progresses. |
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