In the realm of health and wellness, the journey to weight loss is often multifaceted, encompassing medical interventions, lifestyle adjustments, and personalized care. This article explores the approach to weight loss, drawing insights from genetic predispositions, medical interventions, and the expertise of healthcare professionals like Jill Reidy, FNP-C.
The Role of Weight Loss Medications
For individuals seeking medical assistance in their weight loss endeavors, several medications are available, each with its unique mechanism of action. These medications are typically prescribed based on an individual's health history and specific needs.
- Semaglutide: Semaglutide is a weight loss drug that has been described as a "game-changer" to fight obesity. It mimics a natural hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), targeting brain areas to suppress appetite and delay stomach emptying. Administered as a once-weekly injectable, semaglutide is most effective when combined with diet and exercise.
- Phentermine: Phentermine is another medication option.
- Qsymia: Qsymia is a combination drug containing phentermine and topiramate.
- Contrave: Contrave combines naltrexone HCL and bupropion.
Jill Reidy's Approach to Wellness
Jill Reidy FNP-C is an Experienced Nurse Practitioner. She completed her BSN at Keuka College and MSN at Binghamton University. She has been certified and injecting Botox cosmetic and Chronic Migraine for over 5 years. She began her nursing career in 1999 as a RN and a Nurse Practitioner since 2011. RN and NP background includes ER, ICU, and Primary Care. Jill Reidy, a Family Nurse Practitioner, embodies a passion for beauty and self-care. Believing that everyone deserves to look and feel their best, she integrates various services into her practice.
Services Offered
Reidy's services extend beyond weight loss programs, encompassing a range of aesthetic and wellness treatments:
- Rejuvenation: Botox® or Dysport® are offered to address the signs of aging by reducing facial fine lines and wrinkles.
- Body Contouring: Kybella & LipoDissolve treatments are available. Powered by NanoFractional Radio Frequency (RF). Essentially pain free with minimal downtime.
- Weight Loss Program: A comprehensive weight loss program to help individuals achieve their health goals.
- Lipo-Plus Methyl B12: Injections used for fat loss and energy, complementing exercise and a balanced diet.
- Skin Resurfacing: RF Microneedling Venus Viva.
- Tri-Immune Boost: Injections with a triple defense immunity formula.
- Vitamin Injections: Biotin, Vitamin B12, and Vitamin D3 injections to improve overall health.
- Male Hormone - TRT: Testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) to address symptoms of andropause.
- Botox® For Migraines: Botox® For MigrainesDo you experience 15 or more migraine headaches a month and wonder what can be done to alleviate them.
The Influence of Genetics on Weight Loss
Genetics play a significant role in an individual's predisposition to weight gain and response to weight loss interventions. Studies have shown that genetic factors can influence lipid profiles and cardiovascular disease risk.
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Genetic Risk Score (GRS)
A genetic risk score (GRS) based on deleterious alleles at lipid-associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms can modify the effects of lifestyle and/or metformin interventions on lipid levels and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) lipoprotein subfraction size and number.
Genetic Modulation of Lipid Profiles
Research indicates that individuals with a high genetic risk score may experience a diminished benefit from intensive lifestyle intervention on LDL and small LDL particle levels. This suggests that genetics might help identify persons in whom lifestyle intervention is likely to be an effective treatment for elevated lipids and lipoproteins.
Lifestyle Interventions and Genetic Predisposition
While genetic factors can influence weight loss outcomes, lifestyle interventions remain crucial. A study involving 2,993 participants in the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) examined the impact of lifestyle modification, metformin treatment, and placebo on lipid profiles.
Study Findings
The study revealed that a higher GRS was associated with elevated baseline levels of total cholesterol, LDL-C, triglycerides, and various lipoprotein particles. It also found that the benefit of intensive lifestyle intervention on LDL and small LDL particle levels was substantially diminished in persons with a high genetic risk score.
The Broader Context of Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes
The prevalence of type 2 diabetes and obesity has risen dramatically for decades and is expected to rise further, secondary to the growing aging, sedentary population. The strain on global health care is projected to be colossal. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the deleterious health consequences of obesity and type 2 diabetes into sharp focus. Individuals with type 2 diabetes and/or obesity are more likely to have severe disease and to die than are individuals without diabetes (Barron et al., 2020).
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Genetic and Environmental Factors
Individual genetic predispositions and environmental factors interact to promote or impair molecular processes, such as circadian regulation, thermal tolerance, and/or chronic inflammation. The current obesogenic environment, favoring high-calorie foods and physical inactivity, is a major driver of the growing obesity and diabetes epidemic. However, not everyone exposed to this environment gains weight or develops type 2 diabetes.
Polygenic Scores
With GWASs, genetic susceptibility to disease can be assessed using polygenic scores. A polygenic score represents an individual’s overall genetic susceptibility to disease and is calculated by summing the number of disease-increasing alleles that were inherited from either parent, weighted by each variant’s effect size observed in a GWAS.
Epigenetics and Metabolic Disease
Epigenetic modifications are biochemical processes that influence gene activity and expression, and ultimately modify cellular and whole-body physiology, without altering the DNA sequence of an organism’s genome (Barrès and Zierath, 2016). Mechanistically, epigenetic modifications can arise from chemical alterations of nucleosides in the DNA molecule itself by methylation or hydroxymethylation, alterations in chromatin structure or post-translational modifications of histones (i.e., methylation, phosphorylation, acetylation, ubiquitylation, and sumoylation) or RNA-associated gene silencing (Bošković and Rando, 2018). Diet and exercise influence the cellular availability of nutrients impacting methylation, acetylation and phosphorylation of chromatin. Paternal or maternal environmental exposure can therefore influence metabolism and manifest obesity- or type 2 diabetes-related traits in the offspring through transgenerational epigenetic inheritance.
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