UC Davis, 24th March 2010

Studies about delaying diabetes by weight-loss surgery were carried out in rats. The research was done by a veterinary endocrinologist, Peter Havel.
These findings should help in treating diabetes in human. Diabetes is a chronic disease which makes the body unable to properly metabolize sugar and fat. Diabetes cause serious health problems such as heart disease, blindness and kidney failure.

National Institutes of Health says diabetes affects about 21 million of Americans. The annual cost is more than $150 billion.

Peter Havel said weight-loss surgery is the most effective long-term treatment not only for obesity but also for diabetes.

Irish Times, 15th March 2010

David Ludwig is a director of the obesity programme at Children’s Hospital Boston. He says he was against the weight-loss surgery for the young patients. The reason for that was that he was ignoring the problem. He has, however, changed his mind.

From 1980 the number of obese children in the USA increased by three times. Obesity causes serious health problems such as sleep apnea, diabetes and heart disease.

To avoid these, Ludwig thinks regulations should let young patients undergo weight-loss procedures. These consist mainly on making a stomach smaller which limits the amount of food consumed by a patient.

Joliet Herald News, 10th March 2010

Weight-loss surgery doesn’t start with the bariatric procedure. It starts long time before that. About two weeks before the operation, the patients have to start a special diet which stimulates weight loss and shrinks the liver. The diet doesn’t contain any carbohydrates, as they make the liver larger when they are being digested.

Only two portions of food are allowed daily. It is not normal food but protein powder shakes. Patients can’t eat fruit or vegetables at this stage. To replace the hydration, they drink more water.

This helps the doctors to perform the surgery.

OnMedica, 11th February 2010

The number of weight-loss procedures performed by NHS increased more than twice between years 2006 and 2009. The NHS performed 4,220 procedures in years 2008/09 whereas 1,950 operations were carried out in years 2006/07.

The new report on obesity for England for the year 2010 shows that the number of people admitted to the hospitals because of obesity increased by 60% from 2007/08 to 2008/09. Also the number of prescribed medicines to treat obesity is 10 times higher in 2008 than it was in 1999.

In 2008 about 24% of men and 25% of women were classified as obese with BMI of 30 or more. 42% of men and 32% of women were classified as overweight in 2008 (BMI of 25-30).