UT Health San Antonio is commemorating Diabetes Alert Day on March 28 by providing the following question and answer session regarding diabetes and obesity with Carolina Solis-Herrera, MD.
Thank you for the opportunity to talk about this important topic. Semaglutide is one of the medications we have at our disposal to treat patients with these conditions. In addition to treating diabetes, one of its additional effects is that you lose weight because it curbs your appetite.
The obesity pandemic needs to be treated as an emergency. According to a recent study, for the first time in our lives we’ve noticedstarting to go down. After a century of increasing life span, in 2020 the average longevity dropped 1.8 years and in 2021, it fell another 0.9 years. That is the biggest two-year decrease since the 1920s.
About 80% of patients with diabetes have fatty liver. The American Diabetes Association recommends that 100% of patients with diabetes get screened for it. Why? Because a percentage of these patients will develop liver cirrhosis and end-stage liver disease and will need a liver transplant.Yes, obesity and fatty liver may increase the risk for hepatocellular carcinoma. Therefore, screening for fatty liver is so important. The best treatment for fatty liver is weight loss.
Patients who have a body mass index over 40 and other comorbidities, and go through a specialty assessment, could be good candidates for bariatric surgery. This type of surgery will help them lose a significant amount of weight, with the goal of improving their health and life span. However, they need to start with changes in lifestyle and, if possible, anti-obesity medication.
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