Mar 2012

All the publicity surrounding No Smoking Day (March 14th) gives you a great opportunity to advise on healthy eating and promote your weight management service.
Smokers considering quitting are often deterred by the potential of weight gain.
Not all quitters gain weight and the exact mechanism is poorly understood, but has been linked to the fact that nicotine may suppress appetite and increase metabolism by a small amount. Food can also be used as a comfort by quitters and as a replacement to the habit and addiction of smoking. For people that are concerned, the advice should be about the overwhelming benefits of quitting, the need to eat healthily and how they can manage their weight if this becomes a problem.
The pharmacy is in a unique position in being able to offer support on these two inter-linked pharmacy services. The pharmacy
team should be on the lookout for customers who decide not to stick with the stop smoking programme because of worry about weight gain. Normal weight people will be assured of remaining weight stable after quitting using the Lipotrim maintenance formulas and healthy eating. Likewise people who are trying to lose weight and give up smoking at the same time may need more in-depth counseling and the strict weight loss service.

The Lipotrim Pharmacy Programme offers a range of diet products and maintenance products to support these customers. The
Patient Tracker can also be used to show weight loss or stability over time and encourage them to remain quitters.

PDF Version: ICP LIPOTRIM COLUMN march r1