Common Medication Making You Gain Weight?
by LionelBissoon

(19 votes)

Last week I saw a patient who was having difficulty with losing weight. The young woman was in her thirties with little to no medical problems. The patient was very frustrated and wanted to start a treatment course of Mesotherapy to help facilitate her weight loss.

NOTE: Mesotherapy is a medical specialty which has gained popularity for treating weight gain and cellulite.

She has been steadily gaining weigh over the last three years. She knew of no reason why she was gaining weight and could not understand why this was happening. She was involved in a regular exercise program three to four times a week and was eating what she considered to be healthy. Her diet consisted primarily of protein and vegetables.

At the end of the visit and deciding she was a candidate for Mesotherapy, the patient casually mentioned she had a history of migraine headaches and she wanted to know if Mesotherapy would make her headaches worse.

I inquired about her headaches and how she was treating them. Her doctor put her on a course of Inderal 20mg once a day, which she has been taking for about three years. She was very happy with the success of the Inderal and even went as far as doubling her dose daily.

Suddenly the whole picture started to make sense. Three years ago she started taking Inderal, a medication which belongs in a class of drugs known as beta blockers. Beta blockers are routinely used to treat patients after heart attacks, high blood pressure, stage fright and apparently as prevention for migraine headaches.

Medications in this class block the beta receptor on the heart, which slows down the heart rate and decreases blood pressure. When prescribing these medications physicians tend to ignore the presence of Beta receptors on fat cells. The beta receptors on fat cells mediate the breakdown of fat. Once someone takes a beta blocker it indiscriminately blocks the beta receptor in the heart and on fat cells. This is the reason why patients taking this class of drugs find it extremely difficult to lose weight.

If you are taking a medication for high blood pressure or any cardiac disease you should look up the class of medication to see if it is a beta blocker. If it is, you may want to ask your doctor if it is possible to safely switch to another class of medications.

I have seen patients who were taken off beta blockers suddenly they started losing weight with diet and exercise, which was previously difficult to shed.

Pioneering the use of Mesotherapy in the U.S. to combat cellulite, Dr. Lionel Bissoon has helped thousands of women experience cellulite-free legs and buttocks. Complete with case studies, before-and-after photos and straightforward advice, his new book, The Cellulite Cure, offers hope to cottage cheese thighs everywhere. For more information, go to www.cellulite.md

September 4, 2008

Top 10 Cellulite Scams
by LionelBissoon

(17 votes)

It is estimated that women spend over $3 billion dollars a year in search of a cellulite cure. These so called anti-cellulite products have a cost which range from a few dollars to surgical procedures which can cost thousands of dollars and yield no results.

As a physician who has been treating cellulite for over eight years I have seen many scams for the treatment of cellulite.

Below is what I consider the top 10 cellulite scams:

1. Liposuction: This is the most common and misleading scam used by physicians who perform this procedure. Liposuction has never been indicated for cellulite, it can and will worsen the appearance of cellulite. Unethical Plastic Surgeons lead desperate women to believe Liposuction is the cure. Paul Lorenc, MD author of A Little Work: Behind the Doors of a Park Avenue Plastic Surgeon clearly states if a Plastic Surgeon suggests Liposuction for cellulite run out the door without looking back.

2. Manual Massage: There are massage therapist who recommend massage for cellulite. If this worked, there would be no need for any innovation to treat cellulite as massage therapists would the masters of cellulite.

3. Anti-Cellulite Sneakers: Anti-cellulite sneakers have what is know as a “rocker-bottom sole” which allows the foot to roll while walking. There are many senior citizens who wear these soles for decades to alleviate foot pain and facilitate walking. I have yet to see a senior who has worn these shoes free of cellulite.

4. Anti-Cellulite Clothing: This is not treatment. There is no such thing as anti-cellulite clothing once you have cellulite. Pantyhoses and uniform compression thigh garments will help prevent cellulite, but not cure cellulite.

5. Creams & Lotions: There are many of these products on the market for cellulite. The active ingredient in many of these products contains caffeine and niacin. These two products can produce a redness and tingling giving the user a sense that the product is working.

6. Nivea Cellulite Cream: Last summer we were introduced to Nivea’s anti-cellulite cream by teenage girls frolicking around a water fountain as though they were in nirvana. The active ingredient in this product is L-carnitine, the most abundant amino acid in the body. It does not break down fat. L-Carnitine is available in any health food store.

7. Body Wraps: Wraps tend to dehydrate the skin and within a few hours the skin and the underlying tissue is rehydrated and before you know it the thigh girth and cellulite returns.

8. Tanning: This is on the verge or ridiculous to bogus, yet so called experts recommend tanning as a means to get rid of cellulite.

9. No Needle Mesotherapy: This is truly an oxymoron, since one cannot perform Mesotherapy without injections. This procedure utilizes a technology known as iontophoresis which was used in physical therapy with very little success. It is now essentially repackaged with a new name for cellulite.

10. Aromatherapy: Another ridiculous claim! You cannot sniff your way to perfect legs.

If you have cellulite, it is important to spend time researching the products, procedures and the qualifications of the experts. Dermatologist and Plastic Surgeon are not experts in cellulite, so don’t seek help based on their recommendations. You need to do your own research to find the best treatment for your legs.

Pioneering the use of Mesotherapy in the U.S. to combat cellulite, Dr. Lionel Bissoon has helped thousands of women experience cellulite-free legs and buttocks. Complete with case studies, before-and-after photos and straightforward advice, his new book, The Cellulite Cure, offers hope to cottage cheese thighs everywhere. To discover the only proven treatment option for cellulite, go to www.cellulite.md

June 25, 2008

Can Cellulite Be A Sign of Hypothyroidism?
by LionelBissoon

(21 votes)

Special for Diet.com
by Lionel Bissoon
Author of The Cellulite Cure

Cellulite is a very popular topic for today’s woman. Every major magazine, newspapers and television station has a cellulite story. These stories tend to appear mostly around late spring to early summer. Many of these timely stories tend to focus on treatment options as opposed to medical causes. While few medical causes are ever discussed, hypothyroidism may very well be an ignored or unknown as a cause of cellulite.

While most women with cellulite look at their legs in dismay, at the same time wonder how and why they developed this horrible and disfiguring condition. Cellulite can show its face starting at age 25-35. Cellulite can appear in women who are on a rigorous work out regime, in someone who is sedentary and quite possibly a person who is hypothyroid. This may seem as a surprise to the reader, as many are condition to think that cellulite is present only in those who are overweight and sedentary.

It is estimated that 60 percent of women are subclinically hypothyroid. What this means is a lab test may or may not confirm the diagnosis. However, the patient may have symptoms consistent with hypothyroidism. When this occurs the lab studies need to be interpreted with the symptoms in mind.

It is a common practice for physicians to only order a Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) test without the other components. It is really difficult to interpret the TSH without the other components of the thyroid profile unless it is grossly abnormal. In today’s medicine it is considered abnormal if the TSH is greater than 2.0 with symptoms. However, many physicians still go by the absolute numbers on the reference range with 5.5 being the high end of normal. In other words, the patient symptoms are largely ignored.

Another study, which should be performed, is the Free T3 and Reverse T3. Think of Free T3 as the fuel that runs every cell in the body and Reverse T3 as the fuel that shuts down every cell. The thyroid gland produces a hormone called T4 and this can be converted in to T3 or Reverse T3. Think of T3 as good and Reverse T3 is bad. There are few known reasons why Reverse T3 is produced, such as in starvation, fasting and dieting and there are also unknown reasons.

In hypothyroidism there are over 100 symptoms, some of the major ones are weight gain, fatigue, hair loss, constipation, moody, irritable, difficulty concentration and cold intolerance. Yet symptoms of cold hands and feet are largely ignored. All these symptoms require a thyroid evaluation and treatment when indicated. It is fascinating to hear patient reports of thyroid supplementation producing a warming effect in their extremities. This warming effect can help prevent cellulite from progressing.

Since hypothyroidism lowers the basal metabolic rate, it will surely put one at risk for developing cellulite especially with symptoms of cold extremities. With lower temperature comes lower metabolism that is a perfect setup for the formation of cellulite. Thus, a patient with cellulite with or without all the above symptoms should certainly have their thyroids evaluated. In some patients early cellulite may be the only sign of hypothyroidism.


Pioneering the use of Mesotherapy in the U.S. to combat cellulite, Dr. Lionel Bissoon has helped thousands of women experience cellulite-free legs and buttocks. Complete with case studies, before-and-after photos and straightforward advice, his new book, "The Cellulite Cure" offers hope to cottage cheese thighs everywhere. To discover the only proven treatment option for cellulite, go to www.cellulite.md.

April 23, 2008