+447897072958Editorial - (2021) Volume 10, Issue 7
Received: 14-Jul-2021 Published: 03-Aug-2021
Pharmacists are the health care team member with the most complete drug therapy knowledge, and they are prepared to use that information and act as the key coordinator of drug therapies. This is particularly useful with complex patients who have multiple prescribers and more than one condition requiring treatment.
Historically, the societal purpose of pharmacy has been to make drugs and medicines available. While this core function of pharmacy remains unchanged, the profession's purpose has evolved with new medical and pharmaceutical knowledge and technological advancements. Obesity is a complex disease involving an excessive amount of body fat. Obesity isn't just a cosmetic concern. It is a medical problem that increases your risk of other diseases and health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and certain cancers. Management of obesity can include lifestyle changes, medications, or surgery. The main treatment for obesity consists of weight loss via dieting and physical exercise. Diet programs can produce weight loss over the short term and long-term, although combining with exercise and counseling provide greater results.
Obesity is defined as an abnormal accumulation of fat (BMI >30 kg/m2 ). It may result in health impairment, and is rising fiercely in developing countries. Chronic conditions, like obesity, can be best managed by a synchronized team of healthcare professionals. Interventions by community pharmacists can be effective in weight management but factors like insufficient access to patient information, time restriction and a poor pharmacist-physician relationship are hindering the provision of this service. It is also believed that pharmacists don’t have adequate training for consultation and a have a product-focused approach to gain finances. However, pharmacists should be encouraged to reduce obesity prevalence, since obese patients tend to have numerous co-morbidities thus, interact with community pharmacists for OTC and prescription drugs. Also, pharmacists can assess diseases related to obesity, calculate BMI, perform body fat analysis, reinforce lifestyle modifications, educate patients and start treatment in collaboration with physicians.
