Comprehensive services and a dedicated team to help you.

Equilibrium Helth is a medical clinic. Our slogan is "Walking hand in hand with you, every step of your health journey". About Comprehensive services and a dedicated team to help you Equilibrium Health is a multidisciplinary medical centre that enhances quality of life through personalised medical care. We have longer consulatation, take the time to listen and evaluate our patients.

Obesity medicine is a clinical specialty that treats obesity as a chronic, multifactorial, relapsing disease, as classified by the World Health Organization in 2025. Standard GP weight loss advice typically focuses on diet and exercise. Obesity medicine addresses the underlying biochemical, hormonal, neurological, and inflammatory drivers of weight gain. This includes assessment of insulin resistance, leptin resistance, the endo-inflammatory pathway, hormonal contributors, and the appropriate use of pharmacotherapy, including GLP-1 receptor agonists. At Equilibrium Health Medical in Modderfontein, Johannesburg, Dr Nick Petropoulos practises dedicated obesity medicine with international specialty training.

Yes. Dr Nick Petropoulos is a trained obesity medicine physician with direct prescribing authority for GLP-1 receptor agonists, including semaglutide (the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro). GLP-1 therapy is prescribed within a comprehensive metabolic assessment and management programme, not as a standalone prescription. Patients undergo a full metabolic evaluation, including body composition analysis, before pharmacotherapy is started.

Semaglutide is a GLP-1 receptor agonist that mimics the GLP-1 hormone to reduce appetite and slow gastric emptying. Tirzepatide is a dual GIP/GLP-1 receptor agonist, so it activates two hormone receptor pathways at once. The SURMOUNT-5 trial, published in 2025, showed greater average weight loss with tirzepatide than semaglutide in a head-to-head comparison. Both require a prescription and should be used within a medically supervised programme. The right choice depends on metabolic profile, comorbidities, tolerability, and clinical assessment, and Dr Petropoulos assesses each patient individually.

This is a common clinical presentation with several identifiable biological causes:

Leptin resistance: the brain's satiety signalling is impaired, causing persistent hunger.
Insulin resistance: altered glucose metabolism promotes fat storage.
Chronic low-grade inflammation in adipose tissue
Hormonal contributors, including oestrogen changes in post-menopausal women and testosterone decline.
Sleep-related disruption of ghrelin and leptin.
Thyroid dysfunction.
Neurological adaptation that defends against weight loss.

The "calories in, calories out" model does not account for these regulatory mechanisms. A metabolic assessment by an obesity medicine physician can identify which one is dominant in an individual patient.

The World Health Organization, the American Medical Association, and the European Association for the Study of Obesity all classify obesity as a chronic, multifactorial, relapsing disease, not a lifestyle choice or a failure of willpower. It involves dysregulation of the hormonal, neurological, and inflammatory systems that regulate body weight. Treating it as a disease means using evidence-based medical interventions, including pharmacotherapy, metabolic assessment, and specialist management. The answer states that diet and exercise alone have a long-term success rate of less than 5% without pharmacological support.

BMI is a simple height-to-weight ratio developed in the 1830s. It doesn't measure fat mass, muscle mass, visceral fat distribution, or metabolic risk. A person can have a normal BMI while carrying excess visceral fat (normal weight obesity), which carries significant metabolic risk. Body composition analysis with InBody bioelectrical impedance technology measures fat mass, lean muscle mass, total body water, visceral fat level, and metabolic rate. These give a clinically meaningful picture of metabolic health and are far more useful than BMI alone for guiding treatment.

67 Brahman Crescent, Westfield, Modderfontein, Johannesburg, Gauteng.
We see private patients from across the Johannesburg east and north corridor, including Sandton, Edenvale, Bedfordview, Kempton Park, Greenstone, Boksburg and Eastgate.
We accept private patients and most medical aids.
Consultations trimes are Monday to Friday 09h00 to 17h00.

A detailed metabolic and clinical history focused on the underlying drivers of weight gain.
InBody body composition analysis.
Interpretation of your metabolic blood markers (glucose, insulin, HbA1c, lipids, thyroid, and inflammatory markers).
A discussion of individualised treatment options: lifestyle, GLP-1 pharmacotherapy where indicated, dietician referral and a structured monitoring programme.

The aim is to identify the specific biochemical and hormonal reasons why weight management has been difficult for you.