Author Archives: Rob Ziltzer MD. FACP

Welcome Plenity© to weight loss family. Here’s everything you need to know about this new weight loss pill. [Read more]

There is nothing more inspiring than setting a goal and achieving it. The goal needs to be a stretch, preferably something on your bucket list. For many, running a marathon (26.2 miles) is one such bucket list item. Unimaginable? Unthinkable? Not really. [Read more]

Obesity affects nearly every organ system.  Weight loss has been shown to reduce diabetes and hypertension.  For example, most of our insulin-requiring patients with type 2 diabetes successfully discontinue insulin within two months of initiating treatment, and their HgA1c levels drop markedly.  Blood pressure medicines reduce by ½ within 12 weeks. Obesity increases the risk […]

There is a perception that one of the benefits of breastfeeding is weight loss.  This premise makes sense since at least 500-1000 calories are expended in breast milk production. That’s like running five to ten miles! Based on the current data that it takes 4500 calories to burn a pound of fat, one would expect […]

For years doctors have been telling their patients to cut out 3500 calories and they will lose 1 pound of fat. By cutting 500 calories daily, one should lose a pound each week. The calculation came from simple thermodynamics: If one burns a pound of fat in a bomb calorimeter, it releases 3500 Kcals. [Read more]

Very few people get the 7 hours of sleep required for optimal health. They likely do not understand how sleep deprivation is affecting their health. As health care providers, we have an opportunity to make a significant impact in our patients’ lives without prescribing medications. [Read more]

It has been previously shown that 5% weight loss leads to a 50% reduction hypertension and diabetes risk, or 15 pounds for a 200 lb. individual. Long term weight loss is difficult as it leads to compensatory reduction of Leptin, which reduces metabolism and increases appetite at the level of the hypothalamus. Also, weight loss causes an increase in baseline and peak levels of the appetite stimulating hormone ghrelin. These changes persist for at least one year, and likely lifelong. [Read more]

Phentermine was approved for use in 1959 and for a period of 12 weeks. As obesity has been identified as a chronic disease, the long term use of phentermine has become mainstream amongst physicians who practice full-time obesity medicine. 97% of obesity medicine specialists indicate phentermine is their drug of choice among the current medication options available. Reasons for this include efficacy, safety, tolerability, low cost and low addiction potential. Despite this, concerns regarding safety and addiction potential have continued to limit the use by some physicians. [Read more]

It seems nearly everything we learned about obesity in training was wrong if we were taught anything at all. Medical schools and residencies teach the essentials of nutrition for the critically ill patients. When someone is hospitalized, they need adequate nutrition for healing: protein, essential fatty acids, electrolytes, vitamins, minerals, trace elements and water for recovery and healing. Then when we began outpatient medicine, we were flooded with patients with obesity and its consequences of diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, sleep apnea, fatty liver disease, cancers, and arthritis. Many of those conditions resolve with weight loss. Unfortunately, we were ill prepared to manage the underlying disease of obesity. If we had the knowledge, we never had the time to dedicate during a busy office visit to implement a successful weight loss plan. That is why the specialty of obesity medicine exists. [Read more]

The holiday season does not have to be a time of dread for you. This year you can side-step the weight management challenges many of us face at this time of year. Robert Ziltzer, MD and Craig Primack, MD have put together your holiday cheat sheet with easy steps to guide you through the festive season without weight gain.
Download your copy now!
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