By Don Bolding
Killeen Daily Herald

Dr. Lisa Kirk, an osteopath in Waco, says her holistic approach to weight loss with Medical Weight Management has been so successful in the past year that she and partner Donna Beyer, a registered nurse, have opened offices in Temple and Killeen, eight in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and one in Tyler.

Kirk has been in family practice for 10 years and started Medical Weight Management a year ago with an office in the same building as her family practice office near Providence Health Center in Waco.

"We were drawing so many patients from Temple and Killeen in the first few months that it made sense to open offices there," she said. "We've been in Killeen nine months."

Kirk visits the Killeen office for examinations on Wednesday.

"What makes us different in the weight control field is our attention to the whole person," she said.

The program includes teaching by cell physiologist Richard Couey, an author on nutrition, physical fitness, wellness and spirituality, and John Baughman, a licensed professional counselor who teaches "Meridian Solutions for the Body," which focuses on a 30-minute cardiovascular workout that requires no equipment.

Patients learn 17 stretches in a two-hour group session to keep stress down and improve muscular strength and flexibility.

The practice of "Meridian Solutions for the Mind" is designed to reduce hunger and eliminate food cravings and "emotional eating," Baughman's literature says.

But the teaching comes after the hard work of getting the weight off.

First, a heart and lung examination and a complete blood analysis are done, Dr. Kirk said. Then there's a strict diet of specified fruits, vegetables and protein sources accompanied by daily injections of human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG, a hormone produced by the placenta during pregnancy.

The drug is approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration for treatment of infertility, Dr. Kirk said. Its use for weight loss is an "off-label use," but it causes the body to pull energy from fat stores, reducing hunger pangs and other side effects of rapid change in diet.

The only people who should not receive it are those with active ovarian cancer, she said.

The hCG application was developed in the 1950s by Dr. A.T.W. Simeons. Beyer went to Argentina to study it.

Kirk said all patients have lost weight in the program – an average of 25 pounds for women and 30 pounds for men, and some have lost much more.

The hCG-diet regimen takes from 20 to 40 days. People with more than 25 pounds to lose typically need the full 40 days.

In any case, a 21-day maintenance period follows for patients to learn the exercise and relaxation techniques. Then they can re-enter normal diet patterns, hopefully without the unhealthy behaviors that put the weight on.

Kirk said patients with high blood pressure and diabetes have to have their medications monitored while the weight is coming off. Sometimes the conditions are reduced to the point that medication is no longer needed.

"Much of the treatment has to do with the hypothalamus in the brain, the area that controls appetite," Kirk said. "People's cravings and desires are different, so each person's necessary changes have to be tailored."

The use of hCG is incorporated in a lot of treatment programs, but her clinics strive to increase the percentage of people who keep the weight off.

"Many of our counselors are people who have been through the program and have been successful up to the present," she said. "We measure inches as well as pounds. We educate our staff and train them to support the patients. It makes a world of difference."

Kirk said the osteopathic approach is more holistic than the allopathic approach of medical doctors, and that sets the stage for the whole program.

"We always keep in mind that we're not just trying to reduce weight but to change lives," she said. "That provides our inspiration."

The Killeen office first opened in Harker Heights but has moved to 2501 S. W.S. Young Drive in Killeen. The telephone number is (254) 213-4258.

Contact Don Bolding at dbolding@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7557.

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