Photograph of Marcio Griebeler, director of the Cleveland Clinic Obesity Center, speaking at a conference in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. EFE/Erika Santelices
Punta Cana (Dominican Republic), July 28 (EFE) – In recent decades, overweight and obesity have increased sharply worldwide and particularly affect the Americas, where, according to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), 67.5% of adults have one of these conditions, while medical and scientific specialists insist on the need to destigmatize this disease.
The number of overweight or obese adults has increased by 52% since 1990 in the Americas, the most affected region in the world. Furthermore, 37.6% of children and adolescents in the Americas suffer from one or the other of these conditions, according to data from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
To address this problem, it is advisable to approach it in the “most comprehensive way possible,” including doctors, patients, society, and the pharmaceutical industry, Bernardo Girala, general manager for Central America and the Caribbean of the pharmaceutical company Adium, organizer of the “Beyond Obesity” event, which brings together doctors and media to provide more information on how to tackle this problem, told EFE.
“It’s a complex disease, with multiple facets; it’s not just a matter of mentally controlling eating less and exercising more. We’re learning that it’s a chronic disease, one that needs to be managed over time,” he says.
For Girala, addressing obesity requires bringing this problem to the forefront of society and “destigmatizing” the patient because “it’s not all their fault.” All of this, along with medical treatment and pharmaceutical innovation, Girala emphasizes, following the event that brings together specialists such as Dr. Marcio Griebeler, director of the Cleveland Clinic Obesity Center (United States), and Dominican endocrinologist Hilda Escaño.
Long-term treatment
According to Dr. Griebeler, in the past obesity was treated as a lifestyle problem, but “over time” it has been understood that there are “physiological changes that make continued weight loss very difficult.”
Therefore, nowadays this ailment must be treated like diabetes or hypertension, against which “chronic treatment is needed” that includes diet, physical exercise and medication, Griebeler told EFE after his presentation at this event, which also featured presentations on the evolution of prescriptions against obesity or personalized care for this problem.
Drugs such as semaglutide or tirzepatide “can reduce patients’ weight by up to 22%,” and it is expected that with the new drugs currently under development, “a weight reduction of 30% or even more will be achieved,” he says.
The key, according to Griebeler, is that the treatment is done “long-term” and avoid stopping it after the first three or six months in which significant weight loss has been achieved, because in these cases once the therapy is finished, weight gain occurs again.
“Unfortunately, it is very difficult to carry out a short-term treatment. Long-term treatment is usually necessary,” says the endocrinology specialist.
At the same time, he acknowledges that there is a “very important social factor” in obesity, due to the stress in today’s society, which influences the body at a physiological and hormonal level, and causes it to tend to gain weight.
“It is important to understand that today we do not treat obesity solely as the result of a lifestyle, but as a chronic disease that needs long-term treatment,” he emphasizes.
