How Found works to customize a treatment plan for you

How Found works to customize a treatment plan for you

How Found works to customize a treatment plan for you

Excess weight and obesity are complicated conditions. Popular belief is that they’re caused by overeating and lack of exercise.

Rekha Kumar, MS, MD
Last updated:
March 29, 2024
May 11, 2022
5 min read
Medically reviewed by:
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Excess weight and obesity are complicated conditions. Popular belief is that they’re caused by overeating and lack of exercise. But the truth is that they have multiple causes and contributing factors, including genetics, hormones, and metabolic changes. Obesity is also persistent—your body wants to stay at its set point weight (usually a higher weight), and it will adjust to try to regain weight to get to that point. Because excess weight and obesity are so complex and adaptive, prescribing weight loss medication for our Found medical team is a mix of science and art. It’s why Found offers a wide range of medications that our providers can use to treat our members throughout their weight care journeys. Here's how it works:

The science of prescribing weight loss medications

Our medical team starts by analyzing your medical intake form. Your current health, your concerns, and your weight history help guide their choices. They also filter any medications you automatically are not eligible for based on your health and on FDA guidelines. These safety directions are dictated by regulatory authorities—not Found’s medical providers. Some of the factors that may make someone ineligible for specific medications are:

  • age
  • history of certain diseases or medical conditions
  • medications currently taking
  • allergies or previous adverse reactions to similar medications
  • lifestyle factors, like problems sleeping, alcohol consumption, etc.

What it’s like: Remember when you were a kid and wanted to be able to ride wild roller coasters but couldn't until you were a certain height? The objective metrics each member needs to meet for Found providers to prescribe medication work similarly. Even if you want to try a certain medication, FDA regulations and our clinical guidelines won't allow us to prescribe it if you don't meet the criteria. But, we do have options to work with.

The art of prescribing weight loss medications

Our medical providers all have a lot of experience using medication to help people reach their weight loss goals. Alongside science, they use their expert judgment to make medication recommendations best suited for each member. Found is not a one-size-fits-all weight loss program, and the medication path is no different. Although you may sign up with expectations about what medication you want to take, a provider may prescribe a different medication. This is part of what makes Found so unique—your medical provider is giving a personalized medication recommendation based on the science and their expert opinion. They want you to reach your goal weight just as much as you do and will recommend the best medication to do that safely and effectively. Found’s medical providers work with you over the course of your weight journey, adjusting your treatment along the way—those adjustments might include different dosages, combinations of medications, or a medication switch.

What it's like: We like to think of prescribing weight loss medication as part "art" the way a chef thinks about developing a recipe. A chef will start making a dish with the basic ingredients from a traditional recipe, but will also add or change ingredients based on their previous experience, their understanding of the audience they are cooking for, and the ultimate goal in mind. Our medical providers have a wide array of medications they can prescribe and will ultimately use the scientific criteria and their expert judgment to prescribe the one they believe will work the best for you.

About Found

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Published date:
May 11, 2022
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Meet the author
Rekha Kumar, MS, MD
Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Kumar is an endocronologist and obesity medicine specialist who has authored several papers on the medical management of obesity. She served as the former medical director of the American Board of Obesity Medicine.
Medically reviewed by:
Fact checked by:
Edited by:
Last updated on:
March 29, 2024
May 11, 2022

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