What changes when obesity care stops being about willpower and starts with biology? In this episode, Dr. Roshan Abraham speaks with Dr. Sean Wharton about how pharmacotherapy is reshaping obesity care, why “food noise” matters, and how clinicians can support patients with more empathy, less stigma, and a better understanding of obesity as a chronic disease.

In this episode

• Why obesity medications need to be understood as treatment for a chronic disease, not an “easy way out”

• How Dr. Wharton explains “food noise” and why naming it can help reduce self-blame

• What it looks like to pair pharmacotherapy with compassionate, person-centred care

• Why long-term obesity care requires flexibility, compassion, and the willingness to try a different path when needed

Additional resources

• Accredited course: Pharmacotherapy in Obesity Management: https://utm.guru/unvDk

• 2025 Update: Pharmacotherapy chapter of the Canadian Adult Obesity Clinical Practice Guidelines: https://utm.guru/unvDm

Learning objectives

• Apply evidence from the 2025 GLP-1/GIP pharmacotherapy landscape to co-construct patient-centric management plans.

• Analyze how obesity medications regulate neurohormonal pathways to quiet "food noise" and reinforce obesity as a complex chronic disease.

• Evaluate how systemic weight bias and the framing of medications as an easy fix create barriers to equitable pharmacotherapy access.

Enjoying the podcast?

Support Scale Up Your Practice by:

• Sharing this episode with a colleague or team member

• Subscribing on your favourite podcast platform

• Leaving a review to help more listeners find the show

Have a question or a topic you’d like us to cover?
Email us at scaleuppod@obesitycanada.ca

Disclosures

This episode script was developed using NotebookLM to synthesize complex source materials into a structured educational format. The tool was used to analyze the Canadian Obesity Education Competencies (COECs), the Obesity Canada Strategic Plan, and guest-specific research. Specific prompts were utilized to extract relevant learning objectives, map them to CanMEDS roles, and generate competency-based interview questions.

While NotebookLM assisted in drafting the narrative arc and educational framework, all content has been reviewed, fact-checked, and refined by the podcast hosts and Obesity Canada's clinical experts. This ensures the script aligns with current Clinical Practice Guidelines and authentically represents the lived experience perspective.