Weight Loss Surgery Channel, 26th July 2009

Obese patients have got a powerful tool in their fight for loss-weight – a surgery. Batriatic surgeons highlight, though, the surgery alone does not guarantee success.

The key to the satisfaction is after-surgery support and change of diet and life-style. Dr. Emma Patterson, Medical Director at Oregon Weight Loss Surgery, created a revolutionary post-op program she presented at the 2009 annual meeting in Grapevine.

Dr. Patterson is a very experienced surgeon. She has performed over 1.300 batriatic procedures. She has also trained surgeons around the world, has published journal articles, abstracts and book chapters. Dr. Patterson admits, though, that weight-loss surgery is not the magic tool that cures all obesity-related problems.

“Weight loss and the improvements in health are all about the post-operative support,� says Patterson, “As a surgeon, I do my job in the operating room, but no matter how well I do that, it doesn’t guarantee that the patient is going to lose a lot of weight.�

She also stresses that every patient will have different results. Weight-loss surgery is a very individual procedure.

The key to success is post-operation care about nutrition, fitness and emotional balance. It’s very important that patients have support after the surgery. Each patient should have determined appropriate vitamins and protein intake, also appropriate exercises should be determined so that patients can execute them after the operation.

Also constant follow-ups need to take place, especially in the first year after the surgery. Researches show that patients who are actively involved are more likely to succeed and continue a changed life-style.

“Our band patients come back monthly for the first year for follow up with a surgeon or physician assistant for band adjustments and counseling,� says Patterson. Gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy patients come into the office every 2-3 months during the first year, she says.
Psychological support is extremely important as weight-loss surgery is a difficult matter and patients should not be left alone.

Weight Loss Surgery Channel, 22nd July 2009

It was believed in the past that weight-loss procedures were not safe for the patients over 65 years of age. The new studies at Baylor University in Dallas show, however, that also older patients can benefit such procedures.

Belief that weight-loss surgeries are only suitable for young people, is wrong. The latest researches presented at the 26th annual meeting of the American Society for Metabolic and Batriatic Surgery show that also patients over 65 years of age can benefit from cosmetic weight-loss with no additional risks.

100 obese and overweight patients in the age of 65 to 77 took part in the research. The results were then compared to the ones of younger patients. Al of them had laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery. All of them lost comparable weight after the procedure. Then the after-surgery complications were compared in both groups. It turned out that the complications in the group of patients over 65 years old were almost the same as in the other group

Boston Channel.com, 13th July 2009

A new weight-loss technique that does not leave scars is being tested by doctors in New England at the moment. The procedure is called Transoral Gastroplasty (TOGA) and consists of entering the endoscope into a patient’s mouth down their esophagus. The operation can reduce the size of the stomach to about three inches long and one inch wide.

TOGA is still being tested but compared to the other procedures, it seems to be effective, less painful and reduce the recovery time.

Dr. John Kelly from the UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester says that most of the patients feel better after 24-48 hours.

Lissa Haynes underwent the new procedure a few months ago. Before that she suffered from the sleep apnea, had high blood pressure and cholesterol. Thanks to the TOGA she lost 50 pounds and much improved the quality of her life. Both her cholesterol and blood pressure are below normal now. And what’s more, she doesn’t have a single scar on her body.

“It’s changed my life. It’s just so easy,â€� said Haynes. “I feel like I was given a gift.â€�This procedure is not risk-free, though. Some of the risks consist of puncturing the esophagus and also risks associated with undergoing anesthesia.

Doctors say that some patients are too heavy to undergo invasive surgery such as gastric bypass. They are hoping than in a few years endoscopic procedures will become a safe option.

270 patients have been enrolled for the TOGA clinical trial. Two-third of the patients are having the scar-free procedure whereas the rest are getting a placebo procedure. The results will be published next May but it will be tow or three years before TOGA will be widely available.

New York Times , 29 June 2009

Latest researches show that weight-loss surgery brings cure to the obese patients suffering from type 2 diabetes. The results of the study carried by the American Diabetes Association examined 177 patients. Being very obese and having type 2 diabetes, they underwent gastric bypass surgery. As many as 57% of them got cured from the disease about eight years after the procedure.

Within a year after the procedure, as many as 90% of the patients were cured from the diabetes. Unfortunately, for many of them it didn’t last.
Dr. James Maher, surgeon from Virginia Commonwealth University, said that patients who were taking insulin before the weight-loss surgery were likely to experience the set-back of the disease. His suggestion is to undergo the procedure in early stage, before starting to take the medicine. Otherwise, the results might not last.

In another study carried out, 95 obese patients took part. They had gastric bypass surgery. Five years afterwards 40% of them were cured from diabetes and additional 43% saw improvements in their health.

Dr. Christine Ren from New York School of Medicine said that patients who lost more weight were more likely to be cured.

“The question is always not just ’Does the band work?’ but ’Does it work on helping diabetes, and is [the effect] sustained?’,� Dr. Ren said.

guardian.co.uk, 24th June 2009

The latest reports carried in Sweden show that the surgery that makes the stomach smaller, reduces the risk of cancer for overweight women. Unfortunately, it is still not clear if men would benefit from the same procedure.

As batriatic surgery usually consists of reducing the size of the stomach, people can only eat small amount of food at a time and less food is absorbed by the body. Weight-loss surgery brings good results to overweight and obese patients. In comparison with those who lost weight by diet and exercise alone, they tend to lose weight relatively quickly and keep their weight.

Weight-loss surgery has unfortunately some risks. Patients who consider the procedure should be informed about all possible risks and decide if the benefits will outweigh them.

Researches aim to establish the long term benefits to these patients. The results are compared to the situation where they had not have the surgery in order to see which would be more beneficial.

The researches in Sweden studied over 4,000 patients. Half of them had a weight-loss surgery whereas the other part tried to lose weight by exercising and diet only. The results of all patients were analysed for the next 10 years.

The results were very interesting: about 5.8% of the patients who had the surgery got a cancer some time later. Compared to the 8.2% of patients who didn’t have the weight-loss operation, it’s about three times lower.

Weight-loss surgery seems to influence women’s cancer only as men didn’t have the reduced risk of cancer after the procedure.
Another advantage is that batriatic surgery patients lost 20 kg in average whereas the other group gained 1 kg.

The study is quite frustrating for male patients but it can’t be said it is 100% reliable as most of the patients were women (71%). It’s possible that there were too few men in the research and in order to be more accurate, they should be more numerous. The other thing is that researchers still don’t know if they were the types of cancer affected most by obesity and more common in women than men.

The results of the study show that weight-loss surgery is an advisable option for overweight and obese patients and can reduce the risk of the cancer. It also shows it’s got some risks and has to be seen as a life-changing experience. Losing weight should always start with changing diet and exercise. If it’s not enough, it is advisable to consult the surgeon or nurse to discuss the options.