Menopausal women deserve better obesity care

While more menopausal women turn to GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro for weight loss, they often do it without the necessary critical support to protect their long-term health.

Currently, too many women sail in a major metabolic transition without the resources necessary to do so safely. Health, strength and longevity are the real end goal – not weight loss alone. If the industry does not provide crucial enveloping care, we may negotiate a health crisis for another. Women can lose excess weight, but also lose muscle mass and bone density, which exercises them at a greater risk of fragility, fractures and long -term metabolic decline.

Health and health care leaders are responsible for providing better and more complete obesity care for this patient population to ensure that women receive the full support they need to maintain muscles, bone force and long -term metabolic health.

GLP-1s are a tool, not an autonomous solution

While women go to menopause, the drop in estrogens slows down metabolism, the storage of visceral fats accumulates around the abdomen and muscle mass decreases. This creates a higher risk of insulin resistance, cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis – even for women who are not overweight.

For many, GLP-1 drugs effectively manage weight gain, reduce appetite and improve insulin sensitivity. However, these drugs do not deal with the entire range of metabolic changes that occur during menopause. Hormones, biology and lifestyle all interact uniquely for women at this stage of life. Adopting a holistic health approach is much more effective than simply counting on a powerful drug to balance all these factors.

The risk hidden of rapid weight loss in menopause

The prescription of the simple GLP-1 without support is not a sustainable model of obesity care. Weight loss without nutritional and physical intervention can accelerate two of the greatest risks of menopause: muscle loss (sarcopenia) and the decline in bone density (osteopenia and osteoporosis). As estrogens decrease, the body naturally loses muscle mass. GLP-1s can exacerbate this loss if they are not associated with force formation and the adequate protein intake, slowing more metabolism more and making the maintenance of long-term weight more difficult.

Menopausal women already suffer faster bone loss and rapid weight loss can speed up this process. Without training in resistance and enough intake of calcium, magnesium and vitamin D, women can incorporate their risk of fractures and mobility problems later in life.

This creates a worrying paradox: a woman can successfully lose weight on GLP-1, but in doing so, she can become lower, less mobile and more vulnerable to chronic diseases and injuries. Worse, it is likely to find visceral fat when it comes out of a GLP-1 if it has not developed healthy habits during the medication.

Four essential pillars of obesity care for menopausal women

Health care systems and leadership leaders must extend their approach to obesity care, ensuring that women using GLP-1 or other weight loss strategies are supported by medical nutritional therapy (MNT), movement programs and long-term metabolic health. For GLP-1 to be really effective for menopausal women, they must be integrated into a wider care strategy that includes:

• Nutritional advice to prevent muscle loss and support long -term metabolic health
• Strength training programs to maintain lean body mass and bone density
• Mental health support to guarantee the abolition of appetite does not lead to disorderly eating habits
• Long -term metabolic monitoring to assess insulin sensitivity, cardiovascular risk factors and functional force

These interventions should not be optional – they must be fundamental components of any obesity treatment plan for menopausal women.

For too long, menopausic health was a reflection afterwards in health benefits and benefits sponsored by employers. Weight gain during menopause is not only a lifestyle problem – it is a metabolic change that requires targeted interventions supported by science. It is time for Health of Health, Employers and Political decision -makers to intervene and provide the full range of women of support for menopausal women.

GLP-1 can be an effective tool but cannot replace the critical need for complete care and the whole body that favor muscles, bones and metabolic health. Women need access to resources that allow them to navigate menopause with strength and confidence. If we continue to treat weight loss as the mere metric of success, we will fail with a whole generation of women who deserve better more sustainable treatments.

Photo: Peter Dazeley, Getty Images

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