Weight Loss Surgery News Blog

Link: http://healthyamericans.org/reports/obesity2010/

A new report was issued by Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).

Here are some of the highlights:
- Adult obesity rates increased in 28 states in the past year, and declined only in one.
- More than two-thirds of states (38) have adult obesity rates above 25 percent.
- In 1991, no state had an obesity rate above 20 percent (just 20 years ago!).
- Adult obesity rates for Blacks and Latinos were higher than for Whites in at least 40 states.
- 10 out of the 11 states with the highest rates of obesity were in the South.
- 35.3 percent of adults earning less than $15,000 per year were obese compared with 24.5 percent of adults earning $50,000 or more per year.
- Adult obesity rates for Blacks topped 40 percent in nine states, 35 percent in 34 states, and 30 percent in 43 states and D.C.
- Rates of adult obesity for Latinos were above 35 percent in two states (North Dakota and Tennessee) and at 30 percent and above in 19 states.
- Ten of the 11 states with the highest rates of diabetes are in the South, as are the 10 states with the highest rates of hypertension.
- No state had rates of adult obesity above 35 percent for Whites. Only one state-West Virginia-had an adult obesity rate for Whites greater than 30 percent.
- The number of states where adult obesity rates exceed 30 percent doubled in the past year, from four to eight --Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and West Virginia.
- Northeastern and Western states had the lowest adult obesity rates; Colorado remained the lowest at 19.1 percent.

Link: http://www.robertorizzi.com/diabetic-surgery.htm

If you have diabetes type 2 and are over weight, "Diabetics Obesity Surgery" might just help.

For years, obesity surgeons have noted that obese people who undergo obesity surgery like gastric bypass (and other type of obesity surgery procedures), almost all experience a reversal of their diabetes. Many achieve normal blood sugar within days after the surgery and are able to end their diabetic medications.

Could those diabetes type 2 sufferers who aren't obese, but just a bit overweight, benefit as well? It's becoming a big issue. According to the American Diabetes Association, 24 million Americans have the disease. The cost of treatment for these is $175 billion.

Current surgical guidlines defines that candidates for obesity surgery must be morbidly obese with a body mass index over 40, or a BMI over 35 plus a weight-related medical problem like diabetes or high blood pressure. Insurance companies use these guidelines in deciding whether to pay for the procedure.

It is reported that Cleveland Clinic is pushing the BMI envelope to see if obesity surgery can make diabetes go away in people who are overweight, but not fat enough (according to the guidelines) to have surgery.

Cleveland Clinic is recruiting 150 overweight and obese Type 2 diabetics with BMIs between 27 and 43 for a study. Some will have surgery and their progress will be compared to those who manage their diabetes with medicine. The goal is to see which group can achieve complete remission.

Link: http://www.robertorizzi.com/plastic_surgery.htm

Bariatric Surgery (especially the Gastric Bypass Surgery) are surging in popularity. With massive weight loss in a short time, skin often does not shrink well. Body contouring plastic (or cosmetic) surgery can help deal with this extra skin and give such individuals a new image after losing massive weight.

Whether a person loses weight through diet and exercise or through bariatric surgery, there are a few problems that arise as a result of the weight loss. One that will be most noticeable is the loose skin that remains after the weight is gone. When someone is overweight, the skin stretches to accommodate the increased volume of weight. After weight loss, the skin often fails to tighten, and so it sags. In many cases, it hangs (especially in the arms, stomach, thighs, breasts, and buttocks). It acts as a constant reminder of the weight you once carried around. Exercise WILL NOT tighten skin (exercise never tightens skin - only muscles). The only way to tighten loose skin is through plastic or cosmetic surgery.

Though tummy tucks, lower body lifts, and liposuction are not new to the cosmetic surgery world, performing these (and other) procedures on post-bariatric patients often requires a different approach. What makes body contouring, or body reshaping, more difficult after bariatric surgery is that the skin has usually been permanently damaged by being so extremely stretched. The result is that the patient's skin will loosen with age faster than a normal patient's. Bariatric patients desiring such reshaping after surgery should use a specialist with experience dealing with this type of situation.

A variety of surgical procedures are often necessary and performed at different times. Depending on which area bothers you the most, the surgery can be tailored to fit your needs, starting with the area of greatest concern.

Often an abdominoplasty (Tommy Tuck) is done first, though a circumferential lower body lift may be needed instead. Breast lifting surgery, arm lifts, face lifts and neck lifts are all additional procedures that can be done at separate times. A body lift is the combination of tummy tuck and a lower body lift (inner thigh lift, and outer thigh/buttock lift).

To get new pricing information, please check: http://www.robertorizzi.com/plastic_surgery.htm

Link: http://weight-loss-without-surgery.com/

GI Dynamics, a leader in non-surgical, endoscopic treatments for type 2 diabetes and obesity, today announced initial, positive results from a clinical trial evaluating 12 months of treatment with the EndoBarrier™ Gastrointestinal Liner. The first group of patients from this trial have successfully completed 12 months, or 52 weeks, of treatment with the EndoBarrier Gastrointestinal Liner, an important milestone in the clinical development of this non-surgical therapeutic. The clinical trial was led by Eduardo G. Moura, M.D., Ph.D., director of endoscopy, digestive surgery department, Hospital das Clinicas, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

“Successful 12-month implantation with the EndoBarrier is a clinically important achievement and a promising indicator that this non-surgical medical device may offer our patients an innovative new solution to simultaneously combat both type 2 diabetes and obesity”

“Successful 12-month implantation with the EndoBarrier is a clinically important achievement and a promising indicator that this non-surgical medical device may offer our patients an innovative new solution to simultaneously combat both type 2 diabetes and obesity,” commented Keith Gersin, M.D., FACS, chief of bariatric surgery at Carolinas Medical Center and chief medical director of GI Dynamics. “The data we have seen previously in patients treated for up to six months is very compelling, and these data from 52 weeks of treatment further extend the potential impact and efficacy of this approach. I look forward to the full data set from this trial as the rest of the patients complete the 12-month mark.”

The 52-week trial was designed to evaluate the EndoBarrier Gastrointestinal Liner in 22 obese patients with type 2 diabetes. The primary endpoints in the trial include improvement in type 2 diabetes and excess weight loss. To date, the first six of the 22 subjects implanted with the EndoBarrier have successfully reached the 52-week endpoint.

The average baseline weight for the subjects was 270.5 lbs (± 22.2 1bs), average baseline HbA1c was 9.3% (± 0.8%) and subjects were taking oral anti-diabetes medications. Top-line results for the first six subjects show that on average patients achieved the following results:

HbA1c decrease of 2.5% (± 0.6%) with 5 of the 6 getting below 7.0%
25.9 % excess body weight loss (± 4.6%)
35.5 lbs weight loss (± 9 lbs)
“This is a landmark achievement for the EndoBarrier and GI Dynamics,” said Stuart A. Randle, chief executive officer of GI Dynamics. “I want to congratulate and thank our technical, clinical and scientific teams for their efforts which have led us to a successful 12-month device design and the meaningful results we have observed clinically to-date. We believe that EndoBarrier is well positioned to provide a transformative alternative to pharmaceutical and surgical methods for treating type 2 diabetes and obesity. This milestone further enhances the potential clinical value of the EndoBarrier offering.”

Addressing Unmet Need for Treating Type 2 Diabetes and Obesity

The EndoBarrier, a non-surgical therapy to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity, received European CE mark approval for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity in December 2009. Clinical trials to date involving more than 280 patients have demonstrated the significant weight loss and diabetes improvement achieved with the EndoBarrier Gastrointestinal Liner.

Type 2 diabetes affects an estimated 21 million Americans and 200 million people worldwide. According to the World Health Organization, type 2 diabetes comprises 90% of people with diabetes around the world, and is largely the result of excess body weight. Type 2 diabetes can lead to significant health problems including cardiovascular disease, retinopathy, neuropathy and nephropathy.

GI Dynamics is defining a new class of metabolic treatment options that fit between pharmaceutical regimens and surgery, called non-surgical therapeutics. Non-surgical therapeutics are designed to eliminate or reduce the risks and side effects associated with pharmaceutical regimens as well as surgical options. This new class of treatment can be performed easily and quickly without any incisions, thus reducing patient anxiety and recuperative time. Unlike traditional pharmaceutical approaches, non-surgical therapeutics remove the burden of dose regimen compliance from the patient. Additionally, non-surgical therapeutics hold the potential to improve the patient’s overall health, by providing the control necessary to institute lifestyle and nutritional improvements to maintain therapeutic effect, while being easily removed once the desired effect has been attained and lifestyle changes implemented.

SOURCE GI Dynamics

Link: http://www.robertorizzi.com/diabetic-surgery.htm

With more than 23 million Americans already diagnosed with diabetes, the number of individuals affected by the condition in the U.S. is expected to double over the next 25 years, according to new research.

A study published in the December issue of Diabetes Care claimed that the aging population and the persistence of high obesity rates will produce a populace at a greater risk for type 2 diabetes than in the past, HealthDay News reports.

Researchers expect that the obesity rate will remain stable throughout the study's timeframe, ranging from about 27 percent to 30 percent.

The study predicted the price tag on treating those with diabetes in 2034 will be about $336 billion, about three times the estimated cost for 2009.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 23 percent of Americans over 60 have diabetes.