Biomed Middle East, 24th February 2010

In the majority of cases patients with diabetes are obese or overweight. There are cases, though, when patients are not obese but suffer from the disease. On the other hand, there are also obese but diabetes-free patients.

This is one of the reasons why the BMI factor should be discussed as the only way to decide who is eligible for the weight-loss surgery.

Over 20 years ago BMI became a parameter of eligibility for weight-loss surgery. It makes sense to take BMI into consideration when selecting patients for the procedure aimed at weight loss but this factor becomes discriminatory when it comes to the patients with diabetes.

Yorkshire Post, 17th February 2010

It’s not easy to cure obesity, especially with children. They often eat comfort food to hide from the world, when they’ve got a problem. Then they are bullied at school, so eat even more for comfort. It’s a vicious cycle. The bigger they are, the more risky it becomes for them to have serious health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes or others.

NBC Bay Area, 10th February 2010

More and more young patients undergo weight –loss surgery. It might sound a bit extreme but, according to the studies of the Journal of the American Medical Association, these patients lose 76.2 pounds on average. Those who only use dieting and exercising, lose 6.6 pounds.

Lauren Richmond was 14 years old and weighed 210 pounds. She tried everything to lose weight, from Weight Watchers to exercising and dieting. Not only she didn’t lose any weight but also health problems appeared. She started to have thyroid problems, high blood pressure and diabetes.
That is why she decided to undergo weight-loss surgery.

Tampabay.com, 31st January 2010

More and more people undergo weight-loss surgery each year. There are ongoing researches that aim to find out if those procedures are safe and if they really work.

Medical community is very optimistic about the future of the weight-loss operations. Modern surgeries show improved outcomes and lower complications.

These procedures are highly recommended by many medical bodies, including American Society for Nutrition and the Obesity Society. Bariatric surgery was even called “the most effective weight-loss therapy for obesity�. American Diabetes Association recommended bariatric surgery as a treatment option, for the first time last year.

Despite the call last week from the Royal College of Surgeons to stop the postcode lottery in PCT funding of Obesity Surgery, cash-strapped PCTs are making it even harder for patients to get the surgery they need.
Oxfordshire has raised the entry criteria for bariatric surgery to people with a BMI of more than 50.
The move to raise the criteria in the couty was agreed at a board meeting of NHS Gloucestershire. Shona Arora, director of public health, said: “This will help strike the right balance between early intervention and care for those who are morbidly obese and helping to meet demand. We are continuing to deliver a programme to support people in community settings to become more physically active and to eat more healthily.”
Dr Helen Miller, professional executive committee chairwoman, said: “Just because a BMI is 40 or even 50 it doesn’t mean you can’t lose weight.
Bariatric surgery is not a quick fix. It’s about saying to people it’s an absolute last resort. We know if people lose a stone or two they improve their risks of developing diabetes or heart disease.”