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2023 Author: Gabrielle Mercer | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 12:25
Lose weight without starving? What may sound like "minus 5 kilos overnight" should actually work - modern weight loss medicine makes it possible. Pharmacist Klaus Leisser, for many people the first point of contact when it comes to losing weight, has tested the new way to achieve the desired weight.
The big WOMAN themed special for your feel-good weight
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Anyone looking for weight loss tips on the World Wide Web will quickly find what they are looking for - the search engine spits out over 32 million results in less than a second. In addition to the sermon about a lot of exercise and a healthy diet, the majority of those who want to lose weight are served dubious tips that try to make utopian ways of losing weight palatable - for example while lying down or sleeping. No less bizarre is the multitude of explicit preparations that go one step further: overnight they promise a loss of a whopping five kilos. Who gets caught up in such fraud? “People who are desperately trying to reduce their weight,” Klaus Leisser tells us. As a pharmacist, he is the first point of contact for many people who want to lose weight - right after the Internet. “Most of the people who contact us with weight loss questions have already tried unsuccessful attempts to lose weight.” Leisser sees the problem mostly in long-term success: “Today, diets are a dime a dozen - but before the pounds have disappeared, they will come back with reinforcements."
What it takes is a real solution on the way to your desired weight. This is what modern weight loss medicine offers. Lose weight on prescription:
About possibilities and own experiences
Every fifth Austrian and every fifth Austrian gained weight during the pandemic. Have you noticed anything about this development in your pharmacies?
LEISSER: Yes, the demand for products that help you lose weight has increased significantly. In particular, many younger people have come to us over the past few weeks and months looking for advice. In addition, many want to feel fitter and lighter again during the summer months - this also increases sales for weight loss products. Although some people started exercising in the pandemic, for many, home office and staying at home in lockdown were real figure killers. The exciting thing: While people of normal weight have maintained their weight or even lost their weight during the pandemic, according to current figures, overweight people have tended to gain weight.
The pharmacy is often the first port of call for questions about health. What weight loss concerns do people come to you with?
LEISSER: The pharmacy is a very low-threshold access to the health system - you just have to go in and get competent advice without an appointment. Most of the people who come to us already have a history when it comes to the subjects of “losing weight” and “getting back to your desired weight”. Many of them have tried various diets. They're like a dime a dozen today - every month there is a new path to your desired weight presented in every newspaper. The problem with this is long-term success: the pounds usually come back sooner than they were gone - and often with reinforcement. Then people look for advice and the path to their ideal weight leads them to us in the pharmacy. The search keywords are mostly similar: "efficient", "fast". (laughs)
What options are there?
LEISSER: The range of traditional weight-loss products is enormous - from fillers that simulate saturation by volume in the stomach, to dietary supplements, preparations that strengthen the intestines, plant products to ready-to-use shakes. In the past, there were only so-called appetite suppressants in the area of weight loss medication, or agents that inhibited the absorption of fat in the intestine. Both had severe side effects. The former have repeatedly led to dependency and depression, the latter caused severe diarrhea, which of course was very uncomfortable for those affected.
"The goal is long-term success - that is exactly what weight loss medicine pursues."
What new developments are there in weight loss medicine?
LEISSER: For around a year now, the use of drugs that healthcare professionals have known for a long time in the context of diabetes has been approved for the treatment of obesity. They send natural saturation signals to the brain and thereby have a positive effect on the blood sugar level - this helps enormously in losing weight.
Saturation signals are sent to the brain?
LEISSER: Exactly. In essence, the active ingredient is simply an endogenous intestinal hormone that sets a natural limit of satiety when eating. This frees you from this omnipresent feeling of hunger and successfully prevents annoying food cravings. This successfully removes the reason why many diets fail - you hardly eat anything and are hungry all day - successfully.
Losing weight without being hungry works?
LEISSER: Yes, it works. I myself have been trying it out for almost a month and have noticeably less hunger and have already lost five kilos without having to torment myself. Due to the reduced feeling of hunger, you naturally eat significantly less - the first few kilos are then quickly gone …
How do you see the approach as a pharmacist to use tablets or syringes against obesity?
LEISSER: I see this as an absolutely legitimate and efficient way to get back to a healthy body weight. If I now have a BMI of 28 or 30, sooner or later this weight will result in diseases. This is exactly what must be avoided as much as possible - not only when it is already too late to treat diabetes, joint problems and heart attacks. The motto is caution instead of forbearance. And what has to be said again at this point is that obesity from a BMI of 30 is clearly a disease in its own right. A disease with many causes, which can be genetic, physical or psychological. Professional treatment is required for this, as is the case with other diseases. If I have a headache, I take the pill without hesitation.
Are Weight Loss Drugs Suitable for Everyone?
LEISSER: As with any other medication, if you are overweight, you need to be professionally clarified which approach is the best for you. If indicated, a prescription for weight loss can be issued through medical advice. In principle, if you are overweight or obese, you can have a doctor prescribe you medication with a BMI of 27 or more.
What can you expect from this new type of therapy?
LEISSER: For me personally, I see the therapy as a motivational boost that should bring me back to a healthier lifestyle. After all, the goal has to be long-term, and that includes establishing exercise and healthy eating as completely natural elements in one's life. That's why I'm now taking the chance to not only eat less, but also more healthily. I also like to play tennis and golf - both of which are simply more fun with ten kilos less body weight.
All in all, it sounds very promising. In view of the fact that every second person in Austria is overweight, people would literally have to storm their pharmacies …
LEISSER: Since modern weight loss therapies have only been available for a relatively short time in this country, many people are not yet aware of it. Hopefully that will change soon: Since being overweight is a serious health risk, more information is needed here.
"At first I was afraid, now I'm happy!"
Leisser ponders when exactly he started the therapy: "That must have been Thursday back then," he recalls. “Well, no, I didn't dare do that,” he laughs.
Spades in the stomach. A harmless spade that passes very quickly and is barely noticeable - calming words that the pharmacist has in store for all those customers to whom he hands a drug to be administered subcutaneously, i.e. under the skin. Until the first self-experiment: "When I sat there with the injection pen, I shied away from spades - so I just postponed the project to the next day." Close your eyes and go through: "With a little overcoming it worked, and see there, everything is not so wild. Even more harmless than swallowing large tablets.”Since then, Leisser has been injecting once a day:“In the stomach, where it belongs,”he jokes. "The preparation can also be administered into the subcutaneous fat tissue of the thigh."
The dose Since then, he has not had to increase: “It varies greatly from person to person and must always be clarified with the accompanying doctor.” Since he started the therapy, he has felt much less hunger. “In the evening I always ate two loaves of bread; meanwhile I don't even need to judge the second one because I know that I won't be able to do it anyway."
First successes have already set themselves: "The first couple of weeks brought five kilos less," he says happily and contentedly.
His goal: "To achieve a long-term change in lifestyle through the new eating habits and weight gains - so that I can lead a leaner and healthier life in the long term."
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