Dr Sridevi LambaSpecialist General Practitioner, Weight Management Clinic, Christchurch
Dr. Shri Lamba is a Specialist General Practitioner specializing in obesity management. She works with an interdisciplinary team at the Weight Management Clinic, providing comprehensive support to individuals seeking sustainable strategies for weight management and improved metabolic health.
With a patient-centred approach, Dr. Shri integrates clinical expertise with practical lifestyle interventions, medications, and evidence-based therapies to address the complex challenges of obesity. She collaborates closely with dietitians, psychologists, and other specialists, ensuring holistic care that considers both physical and psychological aspects of weight management. Dr. Shri is passionate about advancing understanding of obesity as a chronic health condition and its interactions with chronic pain, metabolic disorders, and overall well-being. |
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Pain, Obesity, and the Right Fit: Rethinking Our Approach to “My Best Weight”
The intersection of chronic pain and excess body weight represents a complex clinical challenge requiring a good understanding of underlying mechanisms. Recent evidence demonstrates reciprocal causal pathways: inflammatory cascades and altered nociceptive signalling intensify pain perception, while pain-related immobility and behavioural changes promote metabolic dysfunction and weight accumulation.
First, genomic predisposition plays a substantial role—over 1,000 genetic variants influence hypothalamic appetite regulation and energy homeostasis, explaining why some individuals face significantly greater weight management challenges. Second, the body's compensatory metabolic responses to caloric restriction—reduced energy expenditure, hormonal adaptations favouring energy conservation—create substantial barriers to sustained weight reduction.
A coordinated multidisciplinary care spanning pain medicine, metabolic specialists, and allied health professionals is needed. Single-provider interventions frequently disappoint because they fail to address the heterogeneous needs of individuals where pain and metabolic dysfunction intersect.
Understanding these interconnected biological mechanisms and implementing an integrated team-based assessment enables clinicians to identify "my best weight"—the individually sustainable endpoint.
First, genomic predisposition plays a substantial role—over 1,000 genetic variants influence hypothalamic appetite regulation and energy homeostasis, explaining why some individuals face significantly greater weight management challenges. Second, the body's compensatory metabolic responses to caloric restriction—reduced energy expenditure, hormonal adaptations favouring energy conservation—create substantial barriers to sustained weight reduction.
A coordinated multidisciplinary care spanning pain medicine, metabolic specialists, and allied health professionals is needed. Single-provider interventions frequently disappoint because they fail to address the heterogeneous needs of individuals where pain and metabolic dysfunction intersect.
Understanding these interconnected biological mechanisms and implementing an integrated team-based assessment enables clinicians to identify "my best weight"—the individually sustainable endpoint.
