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Samuel Huber

ENG.1201.503

Professor Reynolds

24 October 2021

In what ways can weight loss substitute pharmaceutical treatment for chronic illnesses?

When seen in a medical office for treatment of chronic conditions, people are often

advised that weight loss can assist with their symptoms. Whether or not pharmaceutical

treatment is pursued for a patient’s care, overweight patients are almost always advised to work

on weight loss when they visit with their medical providers.

This is especially true in America, where over one in three adults is obese (Torgan). For

many cases, pharmaceutical treatment is necessary. However, it is often true that moderate to

extreme weight loss can be beneficial for the treatment of chronic illnesses.

Hypertension, the medical condition of high blood pressure, is a great example of this.

Hypertension is incredibly common in Americans and is often directly associated with obesity.

Medications such as beta blockers or ACE inhibitors may help to lower blood pressure.

However, studies for many decades have demonstrated that weight loss can have profound

results for lowering blood pressure in patients with hypertension.

The effects of weight loss on the cardiovascular system cannot be understated. As the

systems of the body work so closely with one another, chronic conditions that do not originate

from the cardiovascular system can put conditions such as heart disease at higher risk. Diabetes

mellitus is one of the most common examples of this. Patients with diabetes are naturally at a
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higher risk of developing heart disease. A study from 2010 demonstrated clear results that

weight loss can significantly reduce cardiac risk in diabetic patients, and the positivity of these

results corresponded with the amount of weight lost in patients.

One of the most important factors with this concept is the reduction of cholesterol in

diabetic patients who achieve weight loss. Hyperlipidemia, or high cholesterol in the blood, is a

significant risk factor for heart disease or cardiac events, such as heart attacks. Obesity does

have a direct correlation to heightened cholesterol levels (Bosello, et al). Reduction in weight

can help patients to lower cholesterol levels, and in turn, this reduces cardiac risk.

Chronic pain is a broad term that can apply to many medical conditions. Often, these

conditions are lumped together and treated similarly. This has been related to a widespread

medical and political crisis in America: the use of opioid medications for the treatment of

chronic pain. Research has shown that chronic pain and obesity often occur together, and both

conditions tend to worsen the other (Okifuji, et al).

Due to the common correlation between obesity and chronic pain, patients on long term

pain management medications are often advised to lose weight. Studies have shown that weight

loss does tend to show improvement in a patient's level of chronic pain. This is especially

important when considering the current drug crisis that has been present throughout this century.

An important factor to this statement is that research has shown that the benefits of weight loss

for chronic pain do not always have to come from behavioral changes; the same result can be

found through surgical procedures for weight loss (Okifuji, et al).

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Bibliography

Bosello, O, et al. “The Benefits of Modest Weight Loss in Type II Diabetes.” Europe PMC, 1

Mar. 1997, https://europepmc.org/article/med/9130035.

Okifuji, Akiko, and Bradford D Hare. “The Association between Chronic Pain and Obesity.”

Journal of Pain Research, Dove Medical Press, 14 July 2015,

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4508090/.

Reisin, Efrain, et al. “Effect of Weight Loss without Salt Restriction on the Reduction of Blood

Pressure in Overweight Hypertensive Patients: Nejm.” New England Journal of

Medicine, 4 May 1978, https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM197801052980101.

Torgan, Carol. “Benefits of Moderate Weight Loss in People with Obesity.” National Institutesof

Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 13 July 2016,

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/benefits-moderate-weight-loss-pe

ople-obesity.

Wing, Rena R., et al. “Benefits of Modest Weight Loss in Improving Cardiovascular Risk

Factors in Overweight and Obese Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes.” Diabetes Care,

American Diabetes Association, 1 July 2011,

https://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/34/7/1481.short.