Metro News, 27th October 2009

Hardly anyone is 100% happy with their appearances. Many of us try hard to change what they don’t like. There are, however, things that dieting and exercising alone can’t improve.

Stubborn fat in the tummy, tights and hips is a serious problem, especially for women.

An anonymous lady from Halifax had liposuction in 2006. Even though she’s never been big, she wasn’t happy with her tights and hips. She was in great physical shape, had a healthy diet and was exercising regularly but still couldn’t achieve her goals. It was a challenge to find the right clothes that would fit her slim torso and larger bottom.

Then, eventually she decided that liposuction is her last resort. She took a week off from work for the operation and recovery. Then, she had to wear support clothes for six weeks. Three years afterwards, though, she feels like it never happened. “Nobody knows about the surgery, but nobody asked,� she says. “It seemed like a big deal to me, but to others it just looked like I lost some weight.�

Dr. Richard Bendor-Samuel, the plastic surgeon says it’s very important to eat healthily and exercise both before and after the surgery. He admits that patients who maintain healthy lifestyle, get excellent results.

BBC News, 11th October 2009

The latest studies of clinically obese children show their lack of knowledge about the ways of weight-loss. What’s more, they don’t get enough support from school, parents or health centers to overcome their problem.

An obesity expert said obese children should be offered a better service in their fight with weight-loss.

The research was carried out by Carnegie Weight Management program in Leads. 100 clinically obese children aged 8 to 17 took part in it.
Professor Paul Gateley, who leaded the program, said it was the first time obese children were asked their views about their problem.

The majority of children (59%) thought the main raison of their problem was eating too much, in general. Only 29% saw eating too much junk food as the cause of being obese. Most children (60%) considered surgery as cheating and they thought there were easier ways to lose weight.

Professor Gateley said children should know more about weight-loss surgery in order not to reject it and not consider it as dangerous.

Another problem is lack of support with weight problems. As many as 60% of the children felt they didn’t get any support at all. 42% of them admitted being bullied because of how they looked like.

“Across the board, school is not helping them sort their weight out – the food is problematic, the exercise is inappropriate for them and the bullying culture against them is not addressed,” professor Gateley said.

58% of the children were afraid they won’t be able to pursue their dream career because of their size, as well as getting a boyfriend or girlfriend.
Professor Gateley confirmed that obese people don’t have the same chances – US studies show they are less likely to get married and might be less paid for the same job.

The conclusion of the research is that more weight-loss services for children is needed. The young people are not offered enough support and very often are left on their own with their problems.

Atlanta Journal Constitution, 2nd October 2009

The latest researches carried out in U.S. showed that the sooner obese teenagers undergo weight-loss surgery, the better.

61 young patients took part in the study. They all had laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. A year after the procedure an overall BMI among the patients decreased by 37%. The patients were still considered as obese, due to their weight from before the surgery.

The research was the first one to show that young people’s weight influences in great respect their postoperative weight. The results were published in the Journal of Pediatrics on 23rd September.

Dr. Thomas Inge, a professor of surgery and pediatrics at the Cinnciati Children’s said: “Current guidelines for adolescent weight-loss surgery suggest that we begin to consider surgery only after a teen is 80 percent to 100 percent overweight.”

“Our new data show that when we intervene when a patient is between 100 percent and 150 percent over ideal weight, we can expect successful resolution of obesity. But by the time the teen is 200 percent over their ideal weight for age, the surgery will reduce their weight substantially, but many of the patients will still remain morbidly obese,” he added.

The conclusion from the study is that waiting too long with the weight-loss surgery might not make the procedure successful enough. It means that both obesity as well as related medical problems might not be 100% cured if proceeded too late.

What can be done about that? Both doctors as well as teenagers’ parents should be able to identify the problem when they gain too much weight in a short period of time, and help them as soon as possible.

abc13.com, 5th October 2009

Many obese patients consider surgery but are too afraid of side effects to go any further. There are, however, other options that are not that invasive and allow a faster recovery. Another good news is that this procedure offers as much weight loss as more invasive ones, i.e. gastric bypass.

The single-incision gastric sleeve is quite similar to gastric bypass but is less complicated and requires only one incision.

Because any of the intestines are rerouted, the risks are half of the risks of gastric bypass but patients still can lose as much weight.

The procedure consists of going through the belly button which is less painful, gives better cosmetic results and a faster recovery.

Rebecca Hammonds underwent the procedure last May. She lost 70 pounds since and is very happy with the results. But weight-loss is only one of the numerous benefits. Rebecca feels much better after she lost her weight, has more energy, her hip pains have disappeared and is able to do so many things she couldn’t do before.

For the doctors, the health issues are even more important that excessive weight only.