23
December
2008
An Indiana couple who topped the scales with a combined weight of more than 50 stones (700 pounds) have undergone weight-loss surgery - on the same day.
Lorie and Todd Richmond both had surgery last week at the University of Chicago medical centre.
After years of failed diets, Mrs Richmond, 31, who weighed 402 pounds, and her husband, who at 35 years old weighed 305 pounds, decided to undergo the radical surgery to slim down. He had gastric bypass, she had a duodenal switch.
Dr. Vivek Prachand performed both operations, the first time he has done so on a husband and wife on the same day.
The Richmonds, who live in a town 45 miles south of Chicago, met during their first year at university in 1995, but they went their separate ways and married other people.
They were only reunited in 2006, after she looked him up on MySpace. Six months later, they married. And just over two years after they were wed, the couple underwent weight-loss surgery. “It’s like starting a journey together,” Mrs Richmond told the Chicago Sun-Times. “For me, this is such an awesome thing to do.”
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Posted: weight loss surgery
8
December
2008
By Andrew Stern
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Women who get pregnant after weight-loss surgery tend to be healthier and less likely to deliver a baby born with complications compared to obese women, researchers said on Tuesday.
An obese woman who has weight-loss, or bariatric, surgery also may increase her chances of getting pregnant in the first place by normalizing her menstrual cycles and hormone levels, the researchers found.
Obese women are more likely to have difficulty getting pregnnt, but after the surgery “there is some suggestion of increased fertility,” Dr. Melinda Maggard, a surgeon and researcher at the Rand Corp think tank in Santa Monica, California, said in a telephone interview.
Bariatric surgery alters the digestive system’s anatomy and reduces the volume of food that can be eaten and digested. The most common form is gastric bypass, which makes the stomach smaller and permits food to bypass part of the small intestine.
While lossing weight naturally is preferable, weight-loss surgery does reduce the risks of pregnancy-related problems such as diabetes and high blood pressure that can harm the mother and her newborn, said the RAND researchers who analyzed data from 75 earlier studies.
The risks of premature delivery, having a low birth wweight baby, or delivering an exceedingly large-bodied baby were reduced for women who had bariatric surgery compared to obese women, the report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association said.
In some cases, pregnancy-related risks after surgery were comparable to those for normal-weight women.
Bariatric procedures have surged in the past decade, with more than 200,000 performed last year in the United States. In the years 2002 to 2005 covered by the study, 150,000 U.S. women of child-bearing age underwent the surgery.
The study was requested by a group representing obstetricians and gynecologists.
A few women who had procedures that shrank the size of the stomach with bands or staples had the devices removed after they became pregnant — either because of discomfort or out of choice.
Others experienced pregnancy complications that likely were related to the surgery such as bowel obstructions, but overall maternal and infant deaths did not rise significantly.
Ideally, women should wait a year after the surgery to get pregnant to let their bodies adjust, but Maggard said some got pregnant earlier without problems.
Even overweight women not morbidly obese who are having difficulty getting pregnant might qualify for bariatric surgery if other weight-los efforts fail, but improving fertility ought not be the main reason to have the surgery, Maggard said.
A related concern after weight-loss surgery might be unplanned pregnancies, Maggard said, because their previous dose of oral contraceptives may not be absorbed adequately.
“They might consider barrier methods of birth control or other means,” she said.
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Posted: Weight loss and pregnancy, weight loss surgery
7
December
2008
Mississippi is in deep trouble. According to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the Magnolia State is in the grip of an epidemic: the epidemic of obesity. Across our state, the number of overweight and obese individuals is rapidly increasing. In fact, almost 66% of the population of Mississippi is overweight or obese, making Missisippi the nation’s least healthy state. Diabetes, stroke, and heart disease are endemic in Misissippi’s population, especially within ethnic groups prone to being overweight. And it’s not just adults — a recent study using a sample of African-American children in the rural town of Canton, Mississippi revealed that 46% were overweight or at risk of being so.
Obesity is the second most frequent cause of preventable death in the United States, and Mississippi natives are not alone in their fight. However, if not addressed, severe and morbid obesity often lead to a shortened life span because those who suffer from obesity face a significantly higher risk of diabetes, heart attack and stroke.
This epidemic cannot be allowed to rage unchecked. Mississipi cannot be allowed to remain the nation’s least healthy state. Something must be done.
Obesity is not simply a matter of losing weight, nor is it a character flaw. It is a disease caused by a disordered relationship with food. Losing weight is simple math: when a person takes in fewer calories each day than their body needs to function, the body begins to burn fat to stay alive, resulting in weight loss.
The difficulty comes in restricting caloric intake – the primal urge to eat when hungry is almost irresistible. And, for some, the pleasure of eating is a substitute for emotional satisfaction. Others are food addicts, plagued by a constant craving for something to eat, regardless of whether they are physically hungry.
The difficulty of losing weight often leads those with the disease to attempt self-treatment, including crazy diets, extreme exercise programs, or “magical” weight-loss pills. Some do lose weight by these methods — but most gain it back fast, and usually damage their health in the process.
No miracle cure for obesity exists. The only way to successfully treat the disease of obesity is through medical care, based upon a complete change in the patient’s lifestyle and eating habits. To beat obesity, our state residents must begin to eat healthier foods in smaller portions. Most people can accomplish this lifestyle change through education, counseling, and sheer willpower.
But for many, weight loss surgery is the only way they can break destructive lifelong habits.
About Weight Loss Surgery
Weight loss surgery is performed under general anesthesia, usually laparoscopically. Its purpose is to physically limit the amount of food that the patient can eat by surgically altering his or her stomach or digestive tract. The alterations make it nearly impossible to overeat—at least initially—and cause the patient to take in fewer calories each day than he or she burns. Consequently, the patient loses weight safely, and relatively rapidly.
Weught loss surgery, however, is not magic. Only a complete change in a patient’s lifestyle can cure the disease. Patients who fail to follow postoperative instructions may regain any weight lost. Those considering bariatric surgery as an option for the management of obesity should discuss their options with their physician prior to making a decision.
Mississippi can win the war on obesity. We can send some other, lesser state to the bottom of the healthy-states list. By changing our diet and lifestyle – and by using weight loss sergery as a weapon of last resort – we can beat obesity here, and make things better in this state we all love.
By: Craig B. Thompson
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Posted: weight loss surgery