The image people have of weight loss drugs is often dominated by commercials on television for so-called miracle cures for people who are obese or overweight. These marketing programs appeal to the worst instincts in people who have weight problems, promising dramatic weight loss with no modification to diet or increase in exercise. It is no secret that at best most of these weight loss programs do not work and at worst, many are harmful to the health of people who need help losing weight.

There are weight loss medications that can be used safely and that can improve the patient’s ability to lose weight. Doctors who treat people who are suffering with the chronic disease of obesity have at their disposal the ability to prescribe effective weight loss medication to help patients who are in dire need of medical intervention. However, this kind of intervention is designed for patients diagnosed to need it. It is not a program to be used to further cosmetic vanity or cosmetic weight loss goals only.

In most cases, doctors will prescribe weight loss drugs for short periods of time to begin the process of bringing a patient’s weight down. It is always smart to work with your doctor to design a weight loss approach that is healthy and that will result in long-term improvements to your health. It is of little value to lose a great deal of weight for a few months only to gain it all back and then have to repeat the cycle. In fact, that cycle is harmful for the heart and over time will hurt your ability to get weight off and keep it off.

By using the resource of your doctor, a weight loss program can be designed that will combine a change in your eating habits with an increase in physical activity to energize the metabolism. If weight loss medication fits well within that regimen of life style changes, your doctor will know what kind of weight loss medications to prescribe and at what dosage.

In most cases, effective weight loss medications are helpful in reducing the appetite so the patient is not as prone to continue an unhealthy approach to diet. Studies of the effectiveness of weight loss medications reflect that they can work and that a patient could expect to lose an additional 5-11 pounds above and beyond weight loss gains that will be realized because of changes to diet and exercise.

This is a much more reasonable forecast of the success of weight loss drugs than television commercials advertise. But by working with your doctor, you can feel confident that the program that he or she gives you has a better chance of working for you to not only lose weight but also to look better, feel better, and be healthier for the long term. That is the kind of weight loss program worth trying.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/weight-loss-drugs/wt00013

http://www.athealth.com/Consumer/disorders/PrescriptionMeds.html