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Weight-Loss Surgery May Also Help Menstruation, Skin, Hair
Posted 16 days ago by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, May 11 – Obese women often stop getting their periods, but new research suggests weight-loss surgery can help regulate their monthly cycles, while also stemming excessive hair growth and skin problems that often accompany significant weight gain. "Obesity is a huge problem in the United States," said study author Chandhana Paka, a fellow in minimally invasive gynecological surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine. "We wanted to see if bariatric surgery [weight-loss surgery] was a solution to helping restore menstruation in morbidly obese women whose periods have become irregular or disappeared." She said hormonal changes that occur when women reach a high body-mass index (BMI) – production of more male hormones, for example – can lead to menstrual disturbances. BMI is a calculation based on weight and height. Paka, who was a resident at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital ... Read more
Related support groups: Obesity, Gastric Bypass Surgery
Weight-Loss Surgery Beat Drugs for Cutting Diabetes in Very Obese
Posted 16 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, April 16 – A bariatric surgical procedure is more likely than medicine to improve or even reverse type 2 diabetes in very obese patients, a new small study indicates. Italian researchers compared standard diabetes medicine with a surgical procedure known as the laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, and while 80 percent of those treated with the surgery had remission of their diabetes within 18 months, none of those treated with medicine did. "In our opinion, 80 percent diabetes resolution is a dramatically excellent result, compared with results of a medical approach in which there's not diabetes resolution," said lead researcher Dr. Nicola Basso, a professor of surgery at the University of Rome, Sapienza. All of those who had surgery and had diabetes less than 10 years reversed it, Basso said. The study appeared online April 16 in the Archives of Surgery. In the procedure, doctors ... Read more
Related support groups: Obesity, Diabetes, Type 2, Gastric Bypass Surgery
More, Faster Weight Loss Seen With Gastric Bypass Than Banding
Posted 16 Jan 2012 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, Jan. 16 – Gastric bypass surgery results in faster and longer-lasting weight loss than does gastric banding, according to a new study by Swiss investigators. A gastric bypass operation called Roux-en-Y involves reducing stomach size with staples and connecting the smaller "pouch" directly to the small intestine. It is irreversible. Gastric banding, as its name implies, involves placing a band around part of the stomach to reduce its size. This procedure is reversible, the researchers noted. "Both gastric banding and gastric bypass are currently performed for morbid obesity," said lead researcher Dr. Michel Suter, chief surgeon at Chablais Hospital in Aigle. "Bypass is more effective in terms of directs results such as weight loss, but a bit more dangerous immediately than banding," he said. However, banding often leads to long-term complications requiring some sort of major ... Read more
Related support groups: Obesity, Gastric Bypass Surgery
Weight Loss Surgery May Help Diabetes
Posted 7 Jan 2012 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, Jan. 6 – Weight loss surgery isn't likely to cure type 2 diabetes, but it can improve blood sugar control, a new study suggests. Obesity is a major risk factor for diabetes. Some previous research has suggested that gastric bypass surgery can cure diabetes in up to 80 percent of patients. Gastric bypass, which involves stapling the stomach to form a smaller pouch and connecting it to the small intestine, is considered the most effective type of weight loss surgery. In this study, researchers at Imperial College London in England used new criteria to assess the effects of gastric bypass and two other types of weight loss surgery in 209 patients with type 2 diabetes. They found that remission occurred in only 41 percent of patients who had gastric bypass surgery, 26 percent who had sleeve gastrectomy (surgical removal of part of the stomach), and 7 percent of those who had ... Read more
Related support groups: Diabetes, Type 2, Gastric Bypass Surgery
Weight Loss Surgery Linked to Fewer Heart Attacks, Deaths
Posted 4 Jan 2012 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Jan. 3 – Obese people who undergo weight loss surgery appear to reduce their risk of heart attack, stroke and death, Swedish researchers report. And these heart-health benefits seem to be connected with metabolic changes that occur after the surgery, such as altered insulin production, rather than the weight loss, the researchers say. "Bariatric surgery is associated with about 30 percent reduction both in the incidence of heart attack and stroke," said lead researcher Dr. Lars Sjostrom, a professor at the University of Gothenburg's Institute of Medicine. "Body mass index before the operation does not predict the surgical treatment effect, while insulin concentration before surgery is strongly related to future benefit," he said. Bariatric surgery involves altering the stomach in order to reduce the amount of food consumed or digested. Given these new findings, some experts ... Read more
Related support groups: Heart Attack, Myocardial Infarction, Gastric Bypass Surgery, Cardiovascular Risk Reduction
Weight Loss Surgery Can Help Whole Families: Study
Posted 18 Oct 2011 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Oct. 18 – When one member of a family has bariatric surgery to lose weight, other family members may be more likely to shed a few pounds, a new study finds. Researchers tracked the spouses, children and other family members living in the homes of 35 obese people who had Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery. The patients and their family members attended three educational sessions before the surgery, and several sessions after the surgery that emphasized dietary and lifestyle changes to lose weight. That included advice on following a high-fiber, low-fat and low-sugar diet; information on appropriate portion sizes; and the need to limit alcohol and TV watching while getting enough sleep and sufficient exercise. One year after the surgery, obese patients had lost about a third of their body weight, dropping from an average of 295 pounds to 197 pounds. At the same time, other family ... Read more
Related support groups: Obesity, Gastric Bypass Surgery
Is Breast Reduction After Weight Loss Surgery Best?
Posted 3 Sep 2011 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, Sept. 2 – Having weight loss surgery before breast reduction surgery is best for severely obese women who have both procedures, according to a small new study. While there are some benefits to having breast reduction surgery first – including reduced pain and increased ability to exercise – women may be disappointed with the appearance of their breasts after they lose large amounts of weight, Dr. Jeffrey Gusenoff and colleagues at the University of Rochester Medical Center said in a journal news release. The investigators looked at patient satisfaction and other outcomes among 29 severely obese women (average body mass index, or BMI, of about 54) who lost more than 50 pounds. BMI is a measurement that takes into account height and weight, and a BMI over 30 is considered obese. All but one of the women in the study had weight loss (bariatric) surgery, according to the report ... Read more
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Weight-Loss Surgery Gains More Practitioners
Posted 12 Aug 2011 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, Aug. 12 – More doctors are performing weight-loss surgery today, and hospitals are touting better survival rates, a new study finds. Researchers analyzing trends in bariatric surgery said increased use of less-invasive laparoscopic surgical techniques, such as adjustable gastric banding, has led to a greater acceptance of bariatric surgery by morbidly obese patients. "We've identified a national trend in the use of bariatric surgery that is tied to the rapid expansion of the laparoscopic approach to bariatric surgery and the laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding operation," said Dr. Ninh T. Nguyen, chief surgeon for the division of gastrointestinal surgery at University of California, Irvine Healthcare, and lead author of a study published in the August issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. Gastric banding involves placing a band around the top of the ... Read more
Related support groups: Obesity, Gastric Bypass Surgery
Gastric Bypass May Dampen Desire for High-Fat Foods
Posted 5 Aug 2011 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, Aug. 5 – The most common type of weight loss surgery in the United States appears to help patients shed pounds by reducing their intake of fatty foods and helping them stick to a healthier diet, a new study indicates. In Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, the stomach is reduced to a small pouch and connected to the middle of the small intestine. While many patients who undergo this type of surgery lose large amounts of weight, it hadn't been understood exactly how this happened. In a study in rats, researchers found that Roux-en-Y leads to a large reduction in consumption of fatty foods and drinks. This effect lasted for up to 200 days in rodents that underwent the procedure. This avoidance of high-fat foods seems to be the result of unpleasant digestive effects that may be caused by increased levels of hormones associated with food avoidance, the researchers said. People who underwent ... Read more
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Weight Loss Surgery May Cut Inflammation, Disease Risk
Posted 26 Jun 2011 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, June 24 – The health benefits of gastric bypass surgery may go beyond helping people lose weight, new research suggests. The new study included 15 people who had gastric bypass surgery. Six months after surgery, the participants showed a decrease in proteins that cause inflammation associated with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and an increase in proteins that reduce such inflammation. The study was released online in advance of publication in an upcoming print issue of the journal Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases. "We're amassing evidence that weight loss is a very important part of changing the way the body's systems work in people with high-risk diseases like diabetes and heart disease," chief investigator Gary D. Miller, an associate professor at Wake Forest University, said in a university news release. "It can be encouraging for people who have these ... Read more
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For Many, Weight-Loss Surgery Also Eases Migraines
Posted 15 Jun 2011 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, June 15 – Severely obese patients who suffer from migraines may see them fade or become less frequent after having weight-reducing gastric bypass surgery, University of Iowa researchers say. In the three years following surgery, 70 percent of the patients reported being migraine-free and more than 18 percent saw their migraines reduced from five to two a month, the researchers found. "The association between migraine and obesity is controversial," said lead researcher Dr. Isaac Samuel, director of the University of Iowa Obesity Surgery Program. "Some people say the risk for migraine is higher in obese people; others say the symptoms are worse," he said. There could be a number of reasons why migraine is relieved by gastric bypass surgery, including hormonal changes that occur after the procedure or certain proteins produced by fat cells, Samuel said. "Severely obese patients ... Read more
Related support groups: Obesity, Migraine, Gastric Bypass Surgery
Rushed Discharge After Weight-Loss Surgery May Raise Risks
Posted 15 Jun 2011 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, June 15 – Weight loss surgery patients who are discharged from the hospital too soon after undergoing gastric bypass have an increased risk of complications and death, a new study has found. After analyzing data from nearly 52,000 gastric bypass patients, researchers found that those released from the hospital the day of surgery were 12 times more likely to have serious complications (1.9 percent versus 0.16 percent) and 13 times more likely to die than patients who left the hospital after the U.S. average of a two-day stay. The death rate within 30 days of discharge was 0.1 percent for those who stayed in the hospital for two or more days, versus 0.8 percent for those who left the day of surgery. Patients who were discharged from the hospital less than 24 hours after an overnight stay were two times more likely to die within 30 days than those who remained in hospital for ... Read more
Related support groups: Gastric Bypass Surgery