Weight Loss Case Study: Medication and Lifestyle Modification

Running head: WEIGHT LOSS CASE STUDY
Weight loss case study
Name of the student:
Name of the University:
Author’s note

1WEIGHT LOSS CASE STUDY
Answer 1:
Ms. A.P. is a patient who has been diagnosed with obesity. She also suffers from
hypothyroidism and has a history of monthly migraine headaches. The specific goals of
treatment for A.P are as follows:
 Comprehensive lifestyle management of patient (diet modification, changes in
lifestyle and level of physical activity)
 As client has BMI higher than 27 kg/m2, pharmacotherapy also needs to be
provided to patient to control weight
 Educate patients regarding the long term benefits of lower body weight and
preventing further weight gain
Answer 2:
I would provide drug therapy of Lorcaserin HCl (Belviq) to Ms. A.P as this is a new drug
approved by FDA for weight loss. It is approved for those patients who have BMI of over
30kg/m2. Since, A.P. has BMI of 32.3 kg/m2, it is suitable for A.P. It has been found to increase
additional health parameters too such as blood pressure, glucose levels and serum lipid level
(Mahgerefteh et al., 2013). Hence, patient is likely to have reduced risk of metabolic disease too.
Answer 3:
The patient was prescribed phentermine ER/topiramate. The combination of phentermine and
topiramate is given to patient for weight loss and reducing cardio-metabolic risk to patient
(Sweeting et al., 2014). The main parameters for monitoring the success of the therapy include
the following:

2WEIGHT LOSS CASE STUDY
 Patients should be monitored for the side effects of the drug such as dizziness, headache,
mood disorder, skin reaction, hepatotoxicity and palpitation
 The use of this drug should be considered when patient is taking drugs like non-
potassium sparing diuretics, histamines, sedative, antipsychotics and analgesic.
 The patient must be advised to immediately report to health care professional if they
experience changes in vision, concentration, memory and speech (Xiong & Gadde,
2014).
Answer 4
In case of giving phentermine ER/topiramate medication to Ms. A.P., she need to be given
the following education before prescribing the drug:
 The patient must be educated regarding the side effects of drug such as risk of developing
kidney stones, dizziness, constipation, skin reaction, hepatotoxicity and palpitation
 The patient must be made aware about some serious side effect of the drug such as
difficulty in concentration, memory problem, high breathing rate and signs of kidney
stones such as painful urination or bloody urine. Patient must be encourage to
immediately report to physician when she observed all these signs after taking the
medication
 Patient must be advised not to do any activity requiring alertness immediately after taking
the medication (Xiong & Gadde, 2014).
 As the medication is teratogenic, the patient must be educated regarding the harmful
impact of the drug in pregnant women and encouraging patient to report if she is pregnant
(Hernández-Díaz et al., 2014).