San Diego Tribune, 22 September, 2008

More and more children and teenagers are obese these days. After having tried dieting and not being satisfied with the results, they decide to go under the knife. A few years ago weight-loss surgery was only possible for adult patients. Now the situation has changed and also overweight teenagers can seek the solution within the operation.

Two the most popular surgeries amongst this age group are gastric bypass and stomach banding. They both make the stomach smaller, and gastric bypass also changes the digestive system and reduces the fat absorption.

Aug 29 2008 by Lisa Jones, South Wales Echo

‘I feel as if I’m stuck inside a horrible shell’

A YOUNG dad has told how he has become a recluse after being refused an operation to remove four stone of excess skin from his body.

Alistair Preston, 28, was morbidly obese and told he would be dead within a year if he did not shed weight from his 37-stone frame.

The father of one, from Pengam Green, Cardiff, lost 20 stone after he underwent a £10,000 gastric sleeve operation in 2006, paid for by his mother, who re-mortgaged her house. COSMETIC BLISS NOTE: A SLEEVE OPERATION WITH US WILL COST ONLY £4,990.00

WKRC TV Cincinnati September 10, 2008

An investigational weight-loss operation has been carried out at Good Samaritian hospital.

Cindy McBride, after trying several unsuccessful diets, consulted a batriatic doctor. The surgery was very like a gastric bypass which helps patients loose weight, it was only performed in a unique way.

“We make the stomach a lot smaller, but we don’t do any of the intestinal re-routing, so there is no associated problems that we see with the gastric bypass of mal-absorption and malnutrition.” said Dr. George Kerlakian from the Samaritian hospital.

Time September 16, 2008

Gastric bypass surgery is sometimes not only the last solution for obese and overweight patients, but it’s also a life saving procedure for patients with diabetes.

There are several reasons for that situation. Not only the operation reduces the risk of death because of obesity-related diseases, but also normalizes blood sugar with diabetes.

This is now the most common weight-loss surgery in the USA. About 140.000 operations are done each year.

The last studies show however that non diabetes patients who underwent the surgery lost much more weight than patients with diabetes.

IrishTimes.com September 11, 2008

Hormones play a crucial role in weight issues. They are to be “blame� for being obese or overweight. Weight-loss surgery is a successful way of getting slim figure back as it changes hormone levels. There are three hormones involved: the hunger one, Ghrelin, which is reduced during the surgery, the satiety hormone, Peptide YY, (responsible for being full) is increased and the hormone that helps to regulate glucose, CGP-1, is altered.

Researches show that weight-loss surgery is a highly reliable way of losing weight for a long time.

The news Today September 5, 2008

Obesity is a huge problem nowadays. More than 33% Americans have weight problems. That is why weight loss surgeries became extremely popular over the last years. The procedure carried most often is gastric bypass surgery. The other popular solution is gastric banding. Some surgeons even say that it is safer, more effective and has fewer side effects than gastric bypass.

Batriatic surgery, simply speaking, is an operation on the stomach letting obese patients to lose and maintain normal weight, using healthy diet in the same time.

By Kate Devlin Medical Correspondent Daily Telegraph 10/09/08

One of Britain’s top surgeons is considering taking legal action over the “rationing” of life saving obesity surgery on the NHS.Professor John Baxter said that the health service was putting patients lives at risk by not funding the surgery for many.

He accused Primary Care Trusts of limiting the number of operations they performed because of the cost, which can be up to £6,000.

He said that the operations, which include gastric band surgery, would pay for themselves within four years, because they would reduce the number of obesity-related conditions, such as diabetes.

By Steve Connor, Science Editor INDEPENDENT (UK)
Tuesday, 9 September 2008
The number of Britons undergoing drastic stomach surgery to treat obesity will have to soar in the coming years because it will be the only way that many people are able to maintain the weight loss necessary for a healthy life, scientists have said.

Dieting and other lifestyle changes can lead to substantial weight loss. But many people, the scientists said, find it hard to maintain the loss because hormone levels change, making the body want to produce more fat.

WebMD September 2, 2008

Researches show that obese patients who had gastric bypass surgery have dramatic improvements in blood sugar control. What’s more, these changes come far quicker than actual weight loss. Gastric bypass is not only “just a conduit for food transitâ€� gastric bypass surgeon Francesco Rubino said. “We now know that it is also a very important organ for the regulation of glucose.”

Tenerife News September 2008

Even though a lot of celebrities have gastric band fitted, is not a fashionable accessory. It helps with the weight loss and for many people it’s a lifesaving operation.

The surgery is done under anaesthetic followed by microsurgery where several small incisions are made in the abdomen. Thanks to this the surgeon can operate the camera on the end of instruments to put the band around the stomach. If the client is more obese, a laperotomy takes place. This is a larger incision 15 to 20 cm in the abdomen.