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).

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.”

Anti-obesity drug sibutramine (Reductil) has had its licence suspended and GPs are being asked not to issue any new prescriptions for the drug. The suspension follows a review of the drug’s safety by the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) on the basis of data from the Sibutramine Cardiovascular Outcomes study.
This follows the suspension of the marketing authorisation for Accomplia (Rimonabant) in October 2008. The EMEA decided that the benefits of Acomplia, no longer outweighed its risks.

AFP, 21st January 2010

Surgeons claim that some patients qualifying for weight-loss surgery have been denied access to it.

RCS (the Royal College of Surgeons) said that obese patients have to wait for the operation. It means they become even more obese which might cause further complications. The raison for this situation is shortage of funds.

Doctors said that only 2% of eligible patients undergo weight-loss surgery. They called this situation “inconsistent and unethical�.

According to the UK’s NHS, patients with a BMI of 40 or more are eligible for the procedure. This might be different in other parts of the world. There are countries where only patients with BMI of 50 or 60 have access to the weight-loss surgery.

Sport & Health News.com, 21st January 2010

Access to NHS weight-loss operations is inconsistent, unethical and a postcode lottery, says Royal College of Surgeons
Obese patients are being “effectively encouraged� to pile on the pounds to qualify for weight-loss operations on the NHS, the Royal College of Surgeons warns today.

The college claims lives are being put at risk as some health trusts require patients to reach higher body mass index (BMI) levels than others before they receive surgical treatments.

The postcode lottery means that access to NHS weight-loss surgery is “inconsistent, unethical and completely dependent on geographical location�, according to the college.