GPs joined the weight-loss surgery surgeons in the fight for better access for the bariatric procedures. The latest academic report concluded that the said surgeries resulted in, not only the weight loss, but also in great improvements in Type 2 diabetes and other obesity-related diseases.

The study has been published by Royal College of Surgeons and included data from 8,710 operations carried out, both, in the NHS and private sector. For the fisrt time the research took into consideration the weight-loss surgery and its effects in treating obesity-related diseases.

Both GPs and surgeons agree that the results of the study prove that the surgery is the most effective – clinically and cost, as well as safest option.

The study, analysing data from 86 hospitals, showed that 12 months after the procedure patients, not only lost 57.8% of the excess weight, but also showed improvements in hypertension, dyslipidaemia, type 2 diabetes and sleep apnoea.

Another interesting finding was that patients who suffered from a disease for a long time (ten years or more) took longer to cure. This means the earlier the surgery takes place after the disease is diagnosed, the quicker and better the results.

Dr David Haslam, a GP in Hertfordshire and chair of the National Obesity Forum, said: ‘It’s should finally put to rest the controversy around gastric bands and gastric by-passes. It’s definitive proof that these procedures are clinically effective and cost effective. Even the most cynical, fat-phobic person would have to be convinced now.’

A new tool improving the weight-loss surgery has been launched by an Irish company Crospon.

The tool, the EF-620, makes it possible for the surgeons to measure the size of the stomach and passageways during the surgery.

Obesity is an epidemic of our times. Lack of physical activity and poor diet full of fast foods, is mostly to blame. Weight-loss surgery is gaining its popularity as the best effective weight-loss method, as very often more traditional methods fail. There are numerous weigth-loss surgery options: sleeve gastrectomy consists on removing a portion of the stomach; gastric banding is about fitting a band around the upper stomach to reduce its size; gastric imbrication involves stitching the stomach to create a pouch or sleeve with reduced volume.

The new tool will allow the surgeons to measure the tightness of the stomach at time of surgery. The gastric sleeve can’t be too tight and the EF-620 will help to create them safely and consistently. This will result in a reduction of the number of adjustments and follow-up procedures. What’s more, the tool will help surgeons investigate why for some patients surgery is unsuccessful.

Crospon has received approval from the US Food and Drugs Administration.

Richard Seabrook, Head of Business Development at the Wellcome Trust, commented: “We are delighted that Crospon have been successful in bringing this latest product to market and we look forward to seeing the results of other ongoing clinical trials to assess its role in bariatric surgery.”

At the last 2nd World Congress on Interventional Therapies for Type 2 Diabetes in New York, supported by Qatar Foundation and the Hamad Medical Corporation, it was said that the weight-loss surgery is a recommended treatment for type 2 diabetes.

The International Diabetes Federation, organisation that collects 200 diabetes associations in more than 160 countries, has indicated that gastric bypass, lap-band, and gastric sleeve surgeries, as options for patients with Type 2 diabetes.

It was stressed that the surgery helps patients to prevent from the complications that may occur from Type 2 diabetes. The statement said that the weight-loss surgery provides a cost-effective way to treat the disease. Type 2 diabetes was called “a devastating disease” in Qatar and the region.

The Foundation pointed out that life-style changes, such as malnutrition, lack of physical activity, smoking and obesity, are responsible for the increase of the Type 2 diabetes.

The Middle East countries, Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, are at crisis level. Qatar dedicates “2.8% of its GDP to research efforts in diverse fields such as biomedicine, environmental science, energy, and information technology”.

Qatar Foundation work on numerous projects aiming at improving the accuracy and efficacy of the diagnosis, screening and treatment of the disease. It also wants to understand better what causes of the disease are and identify the genetic causes responsible for the disease’s development.

One of the Qatar Foundation members, Qatar Diabetes Association, works on programs aimed at diabetes management, prevention and education. It also raises awareness of the Type 2 diabetes causes in the society and holds educational programmes.

The new study shows that as many as half of the patients who undergo gastric banding surgery, have the band removed 12 years afterwards, due to the complications.

Gastric banding is one of the most popular weight-loss surgery options. Lap band is another one. This procedure consists on placing an inflatable band around the upper stomach, which controls the amount of food that can be consumed. In gastric bypass, on the other hand, the food bypasses a part of the stomach by the small intestine.

The new research examined 82 patients who underwent a gastric banding procedure in years 1994 – 1997. The study, that followed the patients in year 2009, found out that 40% of them experienced serious complications and another 22% just the minor ones. 60% of the patients had to undergo another surgery and some of them choose gastric bypass.

60% of the patients taking part in the research said they were happy with the results despite the complications. Most of them managed to weight-loss of 43% of the excess body weight and had improved the quality of life.

The authors of the research stress that this procedure has also got good results as there are groups of patients undergoing gastric banding that have good outcomes and 60-70% weight-loss. Patients trying to decide on the best weight-loss surgery have to be aware of all those facts in order to make their choice.
The other thing is that gastric bypass patients achieve their results quicker (in the first year after the procedure) whereas the Lap-band patients have to wait for five-six years afterwards.

Another founding was that gastric bypass is better for reducing diabetes and improving the quality of life.
As the research might discourage patients from gastric bypass, they should remember that the study followed patients who underwent the procedure many years ago, and the surgery techniques changed a lot. Also, the study was based on patients from one hospital only therefore surgeons should continue with this technique as its results are comparable to the other procedures.

The newest study by the American Heart Association states that weight-loss surgery benefits overcome risks for some severely obese patients.

Bariatric surgery aims to reduce the calorie intake by preventing full absorption of food as it passes through the gastro-intestinal tract.

The research statement says that the surgery makes patients to lose weight and reduces risk of heart and other diseases, which cause serious risks to patients with BMI of 40 or more.

Dr. Paul Poirier, director of the prevention/rehabilitation program at the Quebec Heart and Lung Institute said that weight-loss procedures are generally safe but they should be reserved to those patients who are morbidly obese, whose lives are at risk and who failed at other attempts to lose weight.

Bariartic surgery has got numerous benefits such as improvements in diabetes, high cholesterol, liver disease, high blood pressure, obstructive sleep apnea and cardiovascular dysfunction.

Another statement of the study was that in some cases the procedure prolongs patients’ lives.

Authors of the research stated also that, like all the other surgeries, also weight-loss surgery may carry risks such as infections, internal bleeding, blood clots or even death. It also requires life-long changes such as strict diet, taking vitamin supplements and introducing physical activity.

The latest study shows that weight-loss surgery can be very helpful for obese teenagers who failed to lose weight with conventional methods.

Bariatric surgery offers various options which restrict the amount of calorie intake.

The study was led by Ange Aikenhead of the International Association for the Study of Obesity in London, England. The results of the research were published in the ‘Journal of Clinical Obesity.’

The researchers studied cases of obese young patients who underwent weight-loss procedures and their follow up at least one year afterwards.

831 children and teenagers were studied, nearly 36 years were taken into consideration.

Only in three cases when patients gained weight. There were three surgery-related deaths and some post-operative complications found after various procedures.

The researchers said that dealing with obesity in young patients not only will minimise the number of obese teenagers and obesity-related diseases but will also stop progressing obese children into obese adults.

Obesity and related diseases is currently one of the major world’s problems. Our life-style and bad eating habits are to blame. This results in more and more young people being overweight and obese.

The newest findings look optimistically into the future as they offer a solution which can help obese young patients to lose weight and to control it.

In the past the weight-loss surgery was only available for morbidly obese patients. The new research shows that also mildly obese patients will benefit the procedure.

The study was carried by bariatric surgeon Esteban Varela, MD, at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The findings are available in the journal Obesity Surgery.

Dr. Varela, associate professor of surgery, is very happy with the results of the study. He highlights that being even mildly obese might bring life-threatening risks and that it is crucial to give them effective weight-loss options if other methods fail.

Depending on the region, the clinics offer weight-loss procedures for patients with BMI of 30 (if they suffer from at least one obesity-related issues such as high blood pressure or diabetes) or higher.

These conditions change, luckily. In the past, if a person was 5 feet 5 inches tall with diabetes, they would have to weigh 210 pounds to qualify for the procedure under the old guidelines. Now, that person would only need to weigh 180 pounds.

In the study carried by Dr. Varela 30 patients took part. All of them had laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding surgery. 20 patients were severely obese and 10 mildly obese. All of them lost weight after the procedure.

The patients were followed 30 days afterwards. The findings were that the surgery was as safe for severely obese patients as for the other group. There weren’t any deaths caused by the surgery, only minor complications, which only occurred among those who were severely obese. What is more, the procedure could be performed faster and resulted in less blood loss among those who were mildly obese.

Dr. Varela concluded that the weight-loss surgery brings hope to less obese patients as will not only help them to lose weight but also improve related health conditions, particularly diabetes.

Obese and overweight patients have got numerous weight-loss surgery options. The most successful are: the lap band surgery and the gastric bypass.

In the first procedure, an adjustable band is placed on the stomach. This makes you feel full faster. The second operation is much bigger and more complex. The surgeon makes the stomach smaller and removes part of the intestine so that you absorb less. Patients with diabetes will benefit more from the gastric bypass procedure. Studies show that those patients loose twice as much weight and have better blood sugars compared to those who had the lap band.

How about the complications? The rates of complication were the same for both procedures. The most important is to refer to a doctor with lots of experience.

Patients with allergies are in a bit more complicated situation. As the season is getting longer with the global warming, the change of the climate is extending the ragweed pollen season. In 2009 the season lasted a month longer than in 1995. It is even more dramatic the further north you live.

Most obese people worry that weight-loss surgery won’t let them eat normal-sized portions of food anymore.

Neil Salter, 43, started to put on weight in his 20s, while working as IT consultant. He was having big meals in the evening so the weight has piled up quickly. As he wasn’t happy with the way he looked, he tried dieting with every possible diet (Atkins, WeightWatchers) but they were all unsuccessful. By the age of 33, Neil weighted 21 stone. He just couldn’t stop eating unhealthily.

By 2009 Neil put even more weight and was over 26 stone. He was too heavy to walk briskly, to play with his children. Luckily the cholesterol level wasn’t dangerously high but Neil did realise he was at risk of diabetes and heart attack.

At some point Neil’s BMI was 53, which is morbidly obese. He was put on a drug that stopped the body from absorbing fat which helped only a bit.

That’s when he started researching about the weight-loss surgery. Some operations put him off by the side effects such as palpitations or diarrhoea. Then he found a new procedure – duodenal switch – that shortens the small intestine (which is where you absorb food) which means it’s harder to gain weight. He also reduces your stomach.

The new procedure allows to lose 90% of the excess weight while eating normal food sizes. Neil had to follow a high protein diet, with lots of white meat, eggs and nuts, because his gut would no longer absorb protein very well.

Neil was hospitalised for six days and was able to get back to work only a few weeks after the procedure. In the first days after the operations he only had small portions of food while he was healing but did gradually built up. The weight went away anyway: sex months later he lost about 8 stone.

The operation changed his life completely. Neil is now able to wear his old suits, play with his children again, go for walks or cycle.

A new study published by Journal of the American College of Cardiology says that weight-loss surgery can have positive changes in the heart.

Obese patients often suffer from heart problems related to their obesity. The most common ones are: thickened heart muscle, enlargement of heart cavities, increased risk of heart failure and heart attack.

700 patients took part in the research. All patients were obese. 400 of them underwent a weight-loss surgery whereas 300 did not. Two years after the procedure, the patients who had surgery showed a reversal in the obesity related heart changes, such as a reduction in the size of heart cavities and a reduction in the thickness of some muscles.

The conclusion of the study was that a weight-loss surgery offers hope for obese patients not only because it will help them to lose weight, but also because it will make positive changes in their heart conditions.