Weight Loss 101: Consult Your Physician For Better Results

If you are planning to lose weight, taking your physician onboard may be more effective, a new study claims.

UPI reports that physician-guided weight loss programs helped people lose more weight though such programs are rarely reimbursed private insurance and never by medicare. The conclusions were made based data from 347 people who participated in the two-year Practice-based opportunities for Weight Reduction trial.

"Researchers have long known that high-quality patient-doctor relationships marked by empathy, good communication, collaboration and trust are linked to better adherence to medication schedules, appointment keeping and other good outcomes," said Wendy L. Bennett of Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. The study subjects were randomly chosen and included obese people.

Researchers asked participants about their relationship with their care-givers including details like quality of interaction. The researchers found that those participants who found their physicians most helpful lost an average of around 5 kilos compared to those who rated their physician low for helpfulness who had only lost around 2 kilos.

"This trial supports other evidence that providers are very important in their patients' weight loss efforts. Incorporating physicians into future programs might lead patients to more successful weight loss," Bennett said.