Please Read the Frequently Asked Questions

As a general rule, for every 4kg of excess fat, most people have about 1kg extra muscle to help move it around. Big people are strong - they have to be.

While losing the fat, we don't want to lose that muscle so it is important to keep up protein intake, even if not feeling very hungry, and maintain an exercise program aimed at preserving the big muscles.

Moderating the rate of weight loss to a half to 1kg per week is also recommended to minimise lean mass loss.

A physiotherapist, exercise physiologist, or qualified trainer can help with providing a safe and effective maintenance program and seeing one is strongly recommended. 

The best results are achieved along with sensible, sustainable, dietary modifications (such as the CSIRO Total Wellbeing diet), but as long as you aren't eating for non-hunger (e.g. emotional or habit) reasons, the majority of people will get results. 

Honestly, the science doesn't yet say. Some people seem to reset down to the new weight after a couple of years and are able to successfully wean off the medications without their weight rebounding back to what it was before starting. But we just don't know how to determine who those people will be, or how likely that is. Currently, it's best to plan to be on them indefinitely, but for at least 2 years. If after that you wish to try weaning them down to see what happens that's reasonable. If the weight starts coming back, then we go back up on the dosages and consider trying again 6 months later.

There're a lot of people trying to sell a lot of stuff on the internet, and literally thousands of books promising all sorts of things. As a general rule, it's reasonable to be a bit skeptical of someone trying to sell you something - me included.

One strength of the medical system in Australia is that doctors get paid for their advice - not for the medications they sell. And if they do try to - they get in trouble. I worked hard for decades for my reputation and specialist accreditation - I don't want to damage either of them for being a quack or a charlatan.

Unfortunately, for most people, the various diets and strategies don't work very well for the reasons described on the homepage. It'd be great if there was a simple "one weird trick", but unless you influence the control centre set range, the body will fight (hard) to preserve its preferred weight.

Food intake and composition, whilst the obvious side of things, is only one part of the system. Similarly, things that “boost metabolism” without also addressing appetite are almost always doomed to fail in the medium to long term. It’s best to address all factors together. 

Unfortunately though, even with all the current medication options, about 3% of people just don't respond. Hopefully, some of the new agents in the pipeline will work for them, but currently, there's no way to tell who they will be without trying and finding out. On the other hand that leaves 97% they do work for - well.

With over 15 years of experience focusing on bariatric medicine (medicine focused on large people and all their issues), with international experience, and as the only full-time clinical specialist physician (there are a few specialist colleagues who straddle the academic and clinical worlds, and many who focus on just one aspect - like liver disease or diabetes) in Australia experienced with and offering the entire gamut of proven therapies, you will get world-class, proven, effective advice.

And to be fair, if the alternatives are accredited medical doctors (so far they're all GPs), feel free to give their programs a go. If you get the results you want - great. If you want to see if you can do better - ask us how.

Most of the medications used to promote weight loss haven't been well studied in pregnancy. It is generally advised to cease them either on conception or earlier, depending on the agent. There are special exceptions to this rule and these should be discussed on an individual basis.

Cease all weight loss-associated medications and discuss this with your doctor.

Great! You don't have to take as much medication.

A great problem to have. If this happens, we back off on the dosages.

The larger you are to start with, the better the medications seem to work, and for some people the surgical options are the best. This does not mean you should gain weight before starting.

The medications work with the various metabolic operations - you can reasonably expect better than average results. For instance, the percentages of weight loss to expect generally seem to best calculated based on your pre-surgery weight.

Anyone under 18yo is not suitable for this streamlined program, and should have a full formal consultation to discuss their particular issues.

For anyone 65yo or over, weight loss generally needs to be even more gradual (to minimise the loss of muscle and power), than in a younger population. Participation in an ongoing strength maintenance program (e.g. with a physiotherapist or exercise physiologist) will be even more strongly recommended.

Depending on the agents and dose required, the cost currently ranges between approximately $50 a month and $155 a month. In certain cases (such as “super-responders”) this may be less. You will likely be able to get some of this back from a private health fund.

Currently, this streamlined online approach is priced at about 2/3rd the prices you’d currently pay in the clinic. We’re asking for $50 up-front to review your history to assess if you’re suitable. If so, we will be in contact for the balance of $359 ($409 total) for a comprehensive medication plan. This will usually be followed up 2-3 months after starting by a review to see how things are going, and adjust the management plan if required, for $110.

If everything is going well and your GP is happy to carry on managing things after we’ve started, then this step may not be required. Alternatively, we can do a thorough review again every so often as needed, or just provide prescriptions if things are stable for $50.

The consultation: Currently, as a specialist, a GP referral for a realtime consultation (in person or by telehealth) is required to access Medicare payments. However, if you can get that referral, then a portion will be covered by Medicare.

The medications: No medications for the indication of weight loss are currently covered by Medicare. Some of the agents used are also useful for other conditions though, so this will be taken into consideration. Some private health funds will contribute for some of the medication options.

As this is a streamlined process, with the goal of minimising the inconveniences of a face-to-face consultation (especially waiting lists and finding an expert in this area of medicine near you) and hopefully increasing our capacity to help as many people as possible, the goal is to keep the telehealth consultation as brief as possible and to provide individualised education predominantly through online and posted resources.

Medical Board of Australia rules currently mandate that a (brief) real-time consultation must occur before a treatment plan can be provided.

A letter detailing the situation and plan will be sent to your nominated GP along with any specialists or other health providers you nominate.

Either get ongoing prescriptions from your local doctor, or complete the Returning Patient form or Repeat Prescriptions form, on this (Aionhealth.com.au) website.

Answer the questions on the "New Patient" page, and Dr. Hanrahan MBBS FRACP, Australia's only full-time clinical obesity specialist physician, will review your suitability, and someone will be in touch.

There are opportunities on all the application pages, at any consultation, and via the contacts page, to ask questions. If a question comes up regularly it'll be added to this page. 

Or email us at [email protected]