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Archive for the ‘Weight Loss Advice’ Category

Support After Weight-Loss Surgery

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

24-7PressRelease.com, 23rd September

Weight-loss surgery is only a first part of the long-term process. Patients need a post-operation program to continue weight-loss. Patients in Columbus tried marathons and half marathons. Fresh Start Posse is a weight-loss support system started in 2006 for Fresh Start patients.

“Our success would not have been possible without Fresh Start Bariatrics at Riverside Methodist Hospital, and its comprehensive weight loss program,” Chris Burkhardt, a 9-1-1 dispatcher in Columbus, who had weight loss surgery in 2006 and is now an active part of the Fresh Start Posse, said. “The Fresh Start Posse serves as a way for us to stay connected, and participate in various new activities together; we’re energized by our new lifestyle and the friendships and support from other Fresh Start patients is important for our continued weight loss success.”

Weight-Loss Surgery Advice

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

Times of India, 23rd August 2009

Decision about weight-loss surgery is never easy. Dr. Stephen Hamn from Baylon Medical Centrer at Frisco suggests a few tips before making a decision.

First of all, do not rush into the decision about the programme. This is very important as will inform about available possibilities as well as post-operative care.

Remember to consult doctors about different types off surgeries. You will be then able to chose between gastric bypass, gastric banding or gastric sleeve.

Weight-Loss Drug Danger

Wednesday, May 6th, 2009

WSHM-TV, 4th May

At least one person diet after using a popular weight-loss drug – Hydroxycut. The drug has been removed from the pharmacies after the FDA received 23 reports of health problems including a death of a 19 year old man.

The drug was sold without prescription and was relatively inexpensive so many people, who wanted to lose weight, tried it. About 1 million doses of the drug were sold in the USA which means 1 in 300 people are still taking it.

The main component of Hydroxycut is hydroxy citric acid which is said to suppress the appetite. The component comes from Indonesia and it was used there just for that.

Weight-Loss Miracles

Wednesday, February 25th, 2009

Calgary Herald, 23rd February 2009

People who are desperate to lose weight try a number of solutions in belief they will help. The solution, though, is as simple as tough – they only way to lose weigh is to burn off more calories than you take in.

Unfortunately, according to the Canadian Medical Association, many people are tempted by quick weight-loss programs offering herbal products, cleanses and other drugs promising quick back to shape. Those products promise speeding up metabolism and stopping the appetite, seem like a miraculous solution to the problem.

Weight-Loss Surgery And What Next?

Wednesday, February 11th, 2009

Private Healthcare UK, 7th February 2009

For some patients weight-loss surgery is a life-saving procedure. Not everyone can lose weight by changing diet and exercising. What’s sure, though, all patients who went under the knife, have to change their lifestyle if they want to stay in shape.

The latest studies show that only those patients can enjoy improved lives.

200 patients took part in the research at the Miriam Hospital’s Centres for Behavioural and Preventive Medicine. All patients underwent a weight-loss surgery.

There were two groups of patients: active patients did at least 3 hours of physical activity a week. They were moderate activities such as walking and jogging.

One in three may be obese by 2012

Thursday, December 11th, 2008

Thu Dec 11, 2008 5:20am GMTLONDON (Reuters) - A third of all British adults — some 13 million people — will be obese by 2012 if current trends continue, jeopardising their health and straining healthcare budgets, researchers said on Thursday.

Over-eating and lack of exercise mean more and more Britons are seriously overweight, with 32.1 percent of men and 33.1 percent of women now expected to be clinically obese in four years’ time.

Almost half of them will be from low income and disadvantaged communities, widening the health gap between the haves and have-nots, according to Paola Zaninotto of University College London and colleagues.

Obesity ‘kills more than 9,000 Britons a year’

Tuesday, November 11th, 2008

By Kate Devlin, Medical Correspondent Daily Telegraph - 10/11/08
Obesity kills more than 9,000 people a year, Alan Johnson warned as he launched a national campaign to fight the crisis. The Health Secretary announced plans for nine new “healthy towns” to share £30 million of investment designed to change attitudes and eating habits.

The announcement is the first stage of a new drive to encourage people to lose weight and become healthier, called Change4Life.

Experts predict that if trends continue the growing obesity problem could lead to rapid rises in the rates of life-threatening diseases like diabetes and cancer.

Obesity ‘lifts inflammation risk’

Tuesday, November 11th, 2008

BBC News 17/10/08
Obesity and lack of fitness raise the risk of illness by impacting negatively on the body’s internal chemistry, research suggests.

A US team found levels of white blood cells were highest in men who were unfit and overweight.

White blood cells are key to fighting infection, but high levels can be a sign of inflammation, which is linked to coronary heart disease.

The study appears in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Very-Low-Calorie Diet Before Bariatric Surgery Reduces Risk in Superobese Patients

Tuesday, November 11th, 2008

News Author: Jacquelyn K. Beals, PhD
CME Author: Désirée Lie, MD, MSEd
Medscape Today – Journal 15/10/08
Superobese patients who spend an average of 9 preoperative weeks on a very-low-calorie diet (VLCD) have reduced morbidity and mortality rates associated with bariatric surgery. The weight loss regimen appears to improve factors that influence technical aspects of surgery and reduces patient comorbidities.
George M. Eid, MD, FACS, from the Division of Minimally Invasive Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, presented the study here today at the American College of Surgeons 94th Annual Clinical Congress. The study reflected the literature on bariatric surgery that shows superobesity (body mass index [BMI] > 50 kg/m2) to be a major risk factor for adverse outcomes. Other risk factors are male sex, age, lower socioeconomic status, or smoking.
Dr. Eid noted in his presentation that the 30-day mortality rate reported for 575 bariatric surgery patients in the Veterans Administration system is 1.4%, with a 19.7% overall rate of complications. Superobese patients have a 2.3% mortality rate and a 29% morbidity rate.
The surgical risks associated with superobesity are both physiologic and technical. The physiology involves several comorbidities: diabetes mellitus, sleep apnea, congestive heart failure, hypertension, degenerative joint disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Technical challenges include excess visceral fat, an enlarged liver (hepatomegaly), and a thickened abdominal wall.
The goal of the present study was to “evaluate changes in obesity-related comorbidities, liver size, and visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue volumes following preoperative weight loss with a…VLCD program, and relate these changes with postoperative outcomes,” said Dr. Eid.
“The kind of medical weight loss we use in this study is called very-low-calorie diet. This is a mostly high-protein liquid diet with balanced electrolytes,” Dr. Eid told Medscape Surgery. “My understanding is it’s only FDA [US Food and Drug Administration] approved for a 3-month period.”
Even without the US Food and Drug Administration regulation, medical weight loss is rarely successful in the long-term.
“Medical weight loss has a high incidence of failure over the long period of time,” Dr. Eid told Medscape Surgery. “If you follow a patient at 6 and 12 months they regain their weight, and maybe gain more weight….Studies have been done showing over 1 to 2 periods of follow-up in a medical weight loss patient that you have a high percentage of weight regain and going back to square one.”
Data were collected prospectively from 30 consecutive patients (27 men and 3 women) with a BMI of more than 50 kg/m2 who were seen between August 2004 and April 2007 and were invited to take part in a supervised VLCD program. Participants received 5 servings of a high-protein liquid diet totaling 800 calories per day and were seen weekly for medical and behavioral follow-up. The targeted weight loss was 10% of body weight for patients with a BMI between 50 and 55 kg/m2. For patients with a BMI of more than 60 kg/m2, the goal was a BMI of less than 55 kg/m2.
Mean patient age was 53 years (age range, 34 - 65 years), mean baseline BMI was 56 kg/m2 (range, 51 - 69 kg/m2), and average period on the VLCD was 9 weeks (range, 4 - 13 weeks). To assess the physical changes that accompanied weight loss, computed tomographic scans of the abdomen were done at the beginning of the VLCD program and after its completion.
The scans determined liver volume in cubic centimeters, the depth of the abdominal wall in centimeters, and the subcutaneous adipose tissue and visceral adipose tissue in centimeters squared at locations 12 cm and 20 cm from the xiphoid process. The second scan showed significant improvements in BMI, liver volume, depth at 12 cm and 20 cm from the xiphoid process, total subcutaneous adipose tissue at 12 and 20 cm from the xiphoid process, and visceral adipose tissue (each P < .001).
Preoperative weight-loss with VLCD improved poorly controlled diabetes mellitus in 10 (62.5%) of 16 diabetic subjects. It also improved poorly controlled hypertension in 8 (40%) of 20 of affected patients, and improved degenerative joint disease with limited mobility in 12 (57%) of 21 of patients with this problem. “Some even stopped using their wheelchair and were able to do limited activity by walking,” observed Dr. Eid.
No deaths occurred in the patients who experienced weight loss with VLCD before their bariatric surgery, even with 1-year follow-up. There were 2 postoperative complications: a questionable pulmonary embolism that was examined and had a good outcome, and a minor bleeding episode. Historical data from the same institution report 0% mortality and 6.7% morbidity rates. National Veterans Administration data for superobese patients, as noted previously, show 2.3% mortality and 29% morbidity rates.
Dr. Eid and his colleagues conclude that “bariatric surgical outcomes in superobese patients are optimized through preoperative VLCD.” The significant reductions in liver volume, abdominal wall depth, and visceral adipose tissue and subcutaneous adipose tissue (technical factors) improve the surgical procedure. Improvements in diabetes, hypertension, and degenerative joint disease (physiologic factors) enhance the health of the patient.
“I had two factors. I had the technical factors and those had to do with decreasing the amount of fat and the size of the liver so we had better access to our organ and we can do a better job,” Dr. Eid told Medscape Surgery. “But also we had improvement in their medical condition with diabetes and everything, so it’s a two-pronged approach. On the one hand, you improve technical factors, but on the other hand you improve their comorbidities so you have less risk of complication and postoperative problems.”

Diabetes growth doubles in a year

Tuesday, November 11th, 2008

20 October 2008 Diabetes UK
The number of people diagnosed with diabetes in the UK has risen by more than 167,000 since last year, bringing the total diabetes population to almost 2.5 million according to new data from GP practices. This rise is more than double the 2006 to 2007 increase of 83,000.

In England, a 6.4 per cent increase means the number of people diagnosed with diabetes has broken two million for the first time. In Northern Ireland and Wales, the increase was 6.8 per cent and 6 per cent respectively, with diabetes prevalence now standing at 60,822 and 138,988. Improved recording in Scotland contributed to the biggest rise (16.9 per cent) with the recorded diabetes population now standing at 200,669 compared to 171,513.