Weight Loss and Your Doctor

     All around the world people are on a quest to lose weight. They may want to lose a few pounds to fit into their summer clothing, they may want to lose some weight to create a new image or they may need to lose the excess fat because it is causing problems with their health.

Finding ways to diet is now so easy, magazines, books and the internet are full of new and better ways to get rid of all your extra poundage. Often in the small print you'll see a brief mention about consulting your doctor before you begin a new diet, but how many of us bother?

For the most part, losing weight is a good thing but for some people rapid weight loss can have medical implications. These can range from problems with maintaining blood sugar levels, particularly important for those with diabetes, to causing difficulties for those suffering from blood pressure problems.

For diabetics the insulin medication levels may need to be adjusted based on the amount of weight loss. Any attempts at losing weight should be done in conjunction with your physician or endocrinologist. This is particularly important during the initial stages of losing weight as intensive testing of blood sugar levels may be required.

Although it seems fairly obvious that diabetes sufferers need to take medical advice before losing weight most people wouldn't see a link between weight loss and blood pressure medication. Many of the medications used to help control blood pressure are prescribed according to a person's body mass. If you lose weight, especially if you lose it quickly, you could find yourself taking too much of your prescription medication. For some people losing enough weight can mean that they no longer need to take any blood pressure medication at all. So always check to make sure that your dieting isn't going to impact on the levels of medication you need to take. No one wants to be taking more medicine than they need to as doing so can have implications for your long term health.

These two examples of diabetes and hypertension illustrate the need for appropriate and sound weight loss information before and sometimes during your dieting. If you have any chronic medical conditions then your physician should be the one to advise you on weight loss as he is aware of your current physiological status. He also has access to your current medication regimen and can base your weight loss program on this knowledge and make adjustments to your medications if necessary.

Losing weight can be a big step towards improving our general health even for those of us with no chronic medical problems. If you have any concerns about your health before or during the time you are dieting then make an appointment and see your doctor. They can give good, sound advice about what will probably work best for you and it will be based on facts rather than the latest miracle fad diet that you may have been tempted by.

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