What is involved in your medical weight management program?
If it was easy to lose weight and keep it off, then 67% of the adult Australian population would not carry excess body weight. Our program involves looking at what has driven your weight gain in the past and what is preventing you from achieving weight loss goals now. This includes assessing lifestyle factors but, knowing that diet and exercise alone does not usually result in significant long-term weight loss, we also consider other potential strategies. These strategies involve carefully reviewing your medications to try and find alternatives to any weight-gain
promoting medications that you might be taking. We also assess whether anti- obesity medications may be helpful and, if so, which ones.
What qualifications and background do the weight management doctors have?
Dr Carol Huang
Carol is a specialist physician and Associate Professor at the Australian National University Medical School. She is a qualified specialist in respiratory (lung) and sleep medicine. She holds SCOPE certification in obesity management and has several years’ experience leading the Canberra Health Services Obesity Medicine Service (now known as Department of Bariatric Medicine) and as Director of the Respiratory & Sleep Medicine Department at The Canberra Hospital. Her background gives her extensive experience managing very low-calorie diets, anti- obesity medications and in the medical assessment for bariatric surgery. Her specialisation in sleep medicine allows her to manage both excess body weight, as well as one of the most common complications of excess body weight – sleep apnoea. She has undertaken extensive research in both obesity and sleep medicine. Published Research – Associate Professor Carol Huang
Dr Richard Singer
Richard is a specialist in renal (kidney) medicine and holds SCOPE certification in obesity management. He has over 20 years’ specialist experience. He is a Senior Staff Specialist at Canberra Health Services with experience working in the Department of Bariatric Medicine. He is currently appointed as a senior staff specialist nephrologist (kidney specialist) at The Canberra Hospital where he is the medical lead for the kidney department weight management and chronic kidney disease programs. He has extensive experience in evidence based medical weight management and is principal investigator for several drug trials in this area. His specialisation in kidney medicine provides expertise in managing two common complications of excess body weight – high blood pressure and chronic kidney disease. He has published extensively in the fields of nutrition and kidney disease. Published Research – Dr Richard Singer
Will I lose a lot of weight?
Long-term, significant weight loss is hard and almost always requires a lot of personal effort. Our job is to effectively and safely help you lose weight. With a combination of lifestyle intervention and modern weight loss medications, people commonly lose around 15% of body weight but everyone responds differently to treatment. A particular weight loss is not guaranteed.
What people are suitable for your weight management program?
People with excess body weight, especially those that have other significant medical problems that can be difficult to manage in a general practice setting.