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| EDITORIAL |
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| Year : 2017 | Volume
: 5
| Issue : 2 | Page : 55 |
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Do physicians give attention for obesity while managing diabetic and hypertensive patients?
Yahia M AlKhaldi
General Directorate of Health Affairs, Aseer Region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
| Date of Web Publication | 29-Dec-2017 |
Correspondence Address:
Dr. Yahia M AlKhaldi
Director of Department of Research & Studies, General Directorate of Health Affairs, Aseer Region
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/sjo.sjo_20_17
How to cite this article:
AlKhaldi YM. Do physicians give attention for obesity while managing diabetic and hypertensive patients?. Saudi J Obesity 2017;5:55 |
According to national studies from Saudi Arabia, diabetes type-2 (DM) and hypertension (HTN) affect high percentage of adult population.[1],[2] In one regional study, it was found that more than one half of the patients with DM and HTN are obese.[3] Although the association among DM, HTN, and obesity is complex, an effective management of obesity could have positive impact on the control and complications of both diseases.[4]
Despite this fact, we do not know to which extent, the doctors give attention to care for obesity among DM and HTN patients. Many factors could affect appropriate management of obesity among these patients. Such deterrents include lack of relevant skills to provide behavioral therapy, lack of effective drugs, focusing on metabolic factors such as HBA1c, blood glucose, and blood pressure and ignoring the other important parameters such as weight and body mass index (BMI). In order to manage obesity/overweight among the patients with DM and HTN, it is very mandatory for healthcare providers including treating doctors to comply with the following important steps:- For all patients with DM and HTN, BMI should be calculated and recorded in patient file at each visit to clinic.
- Patients should be categorized into normal, overweight, or obesity, and if she/he was overweight/obesity, it should be included in the patient problem list.
- Patients with overweight/obesity should be informed about her/his weight status, the negative impact of excess weight on DM and HTN control, extra weight in kilograms, and the target weight that should be achieved by patient during the next 6 months.
- Management plan should be documented and include target weight, interventions to be followed by patient to lose weight and to achieve the desired targeted weight (5–10%) of the current wight during the coming 6–12 months.
- Multidisciplinary approach of care must be utilized effectively to help obese patients to lose weight particularly by physiotherapists nutritionists and educator nurse. Finally, we believe that the management of obesity among DM and HTN is challenging issue, however, we should play our roles as health care providers to help obese patients to feel better and to have good quality of life.
Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
| References | |  |
| 1. | El Bcheraoui C, Memish ZA, Tuffaha M, Daoud F, Robinson M, Jaber S et al. Hypertension and its associated risk factors in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 2013: A national survey. Int J Hypertens 2014;2014:564679.  |
| 2. | El Bcheraoui C, Basulaiman M, Tuffaha M, Daoud F, Robinson M, Jaber S et al. Status of the diabetes epidemic in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 2013. Int J Public Health 2014;59:1011-21. |
| 3. | AL-Shahrani AM, Al-Khaldi YM. Obesity among diabetic and hypertensive patients in Aseer Region, Saudi Arabia. Saudi J Obes 2013;1:14-7. |
| 4. | Al-Quwaidhi AJ, Pearce MS, Critchley JA, O’Flaherty M. Obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus: A complex association. Saudi J Obes 2013;1:49-56. |
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