EmpowHer, 26th May 2010

Donna was diagnosed with menopause in the summer last year. At this challenging period of her life, she put on weight but explained herself it was a common problem of many women.

It started bothering her when heath issues started. She was diagnosed with sleep apnea and high cholesterol. She also experienced breath shortness, joint pain and some other obesity-related complications.

When Donna relised how the quality of her life changed, she decided something had to be done about it. She had a meeting with a weight-loss surgery doctor in January, and she felt relieved that there was so much she could do about her health and body.

Los Angeles Times, 15th May 2010

As many as 17% of American children are considered obese. Prevention is obviously the best thing to do; unfortunately it is not always possible.

British journal published an article saying that, even though the rising obesity among children start to stabilise, we still do not know what works best to prevent or reverse obesity. One of the research done in 2006 states the amount of the calory intake for children. Nowadays, however, those data seem to be too conservative. Dr. Joan C. Han, from the National Institutes of Health, says new and better study has to take place in order to know how much kids’ energy needs to be burn.

Private Healthcare UK, 12th May 2010

Women who are overweight risk serious complications when they get pregnant. Weight-loss surgery is a procedure that could lower the risks, including high blood pressure and diabetes.

Researches show that women who lost weight before geting pregnant have less complication during this time and after giving birth.

585 women took part in the recent study in the United States. Most of them had gastric bypass surgery. The outcomes show 80% reduction in the risk of preeclampsia and eclampsia among women who had surgery before pregnancy as well as 74% reduction in the risk of gestational hypertension and a 61% reduction in the risk of chronic hypertension in pregnancy. All these are causes of pregnancy complications.

TVNZ, 5th May 2010

15-year old Sherri Atkin weighted over 190 kg in August last year. In preparation for the gastric band surgery, she lost 30 kg since then.

Sherri would love to start living normal life, without being bullied, not to mention health problems such as heart palpitations and breathing difficulties.

Her life will change dramatically after the surgery. It will control her apetite. The surgeon will put on her stomach through tiny incisions. The surgery will only take about 30 minutes.

“The way I put it to my patients is I am switching off your food addiction so that you can now eat the diet your body needs for rest of your life,” says Dr Schroeder who will be operating Sherri.