rockbandster

MacMadame- You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. The actual band itself is IDENTICAL to the Swedish Band, I have seen it myself. Im a medical professional for over 15 years so unless you have an MD after your name I suggest you refrain from making accusations as to my intentions. The Lapband is the #1 selling gastric band in the world, why would they make changes to make it more primitive to something that came out in 1994? That makes no sense and there are NO similarities to the Realize Band and the LapBAnd AP. if there are- please name ONE. There are ZERO studies showing similar weight loss between the Realize Band and the LapBand AP in year 1. Put your money where your mouth is and cite one. 30% is the average on the Realize Band The doctors who do not fill the band at implant are not using it correctly. PERIOD. The band has been designed differently so patients will not get dysphasia after implant. Im not only a medical profeesional but a patient as well.

J&J Markets the Realize Band, again which is the Swedish Band from 1994 in a new box I read the clinical trials, it's in black and white. Clinical Trials take place well before the product is released to the market. Otherwise, it doesn't get released to the public.

Keep in mind the Realize Band is 14 years old, its the old Swedish Band from Europe in a new box with a new name. The LapBand AP the newest and latest band on the market. Don't be fooled by Johnson and Johnsons' BS marketing tactics. The Lapband AP is the most effective gastric band in the world.PERIOD.

well that really depends on you but...in comparing the clinical trials, the lapband AP first year weight loss is twice as much as the realize band.

Do not start drinking soda- check your blood sugar levels when you get the cravings.If your insulin levels are off, you may be craving sweets

That is supposed to happen - there is 10-14 day lapse before your fill takes. Don't worry

I have an actual Realize Band and it is not a myth, it creases into a triangle when its filled with fluid. PERIOD.

They do have similar results until year 5 - Year one excess weight loss with Realize is 30%, Lapband AP is 62%

The Realize Band overall does not really give restriction until its at near max capacity. Aggressive fills are not recommended and can increase the risk of erosion, especially in the beginning as the stomach is healing and adjusting to the band. It is very dangerous to get such aggressive fills and you should proceed with caution. The Realize Band is soft, probably too soft to get to the sweet spot until it has a lot fluid but beware once you get to 7cc it creases and those creases can leak over time. You are much better going slow on fills and gradually building up and giving the band a chance to adjust.

The Realize Band has to be put in empty so there wont be any restriction until the first fill, unless your stomach has very sensitive nerves. The Lapband AP is designed to be implanted with Fluid so it begins to work immediately. The Realize band is one single balloon, glued together and creases when the fluid is put in. The Lapband has 7 mini compartments and wont ever crease. Creases in Silicone can crack and leak over time. The Realize Band is actually the Swedish Band made by Obtech AG in Europe which came out in 1994. Johnson and Johnson bought it, put in a new box and called it Realize band and came out with a very fancy website in order compensate for having primitive technology as compared to the new, Third Generation Lapband AP System. The first year Excess weight loss with the Realize Band is 30%. The first year excess weight loss with the Lapband AP is 62% Anyone who goes under anestesia, gets cut open by a doctor and chooses a an implant that is meant to be in you for life because the company has a really cool website needs major psychological couseling. If you look at both bands, there is no comparison.

The old lapbands are high pressure, the lapband AP is low pressure.

and further - the main modification vs the clinical trial which my doctor was a part of was they tied a piece of string to the end of the band to pull it through around the stomach-the design of the band is unchanged. I do not hate The Realize band or anyone else- I do feel it's important that if your going to go through these significant life changes and the pain of surgery you have all the correct information of which J&J is not out there providing. Most people dont get to interact with Surgeons daily -it seems like my help is unappreciated so adios.

My qualifications are I am a Lapband patient and work in hospital where many lapbands are performed and have close interaction with all the surgeons who do both Realize, Lapband and Gastric Bypass.

1. It was approved In Oct/Nov but not available for commercial use until Dec Jan 2. LapBand AP has been out for over a year and again the published short term excess weight loss is over 60% in 12 months, roughly double that of the Realize/Swedish Band 3. Just because the band was available you can't just go order it and use it. Your doctor has to go away for 2 days of training and then another doctor has to go in there in watch him view 2 cases where he practices which can take months to set up. Therefore again unless your doc was involved in the clinical trials in which only a handful have, they have no way of comparing short term (12 months) weight loss based on their own clinical experience. That's like saying a BMW is the same as KIA because they're both cars, it's ridiculous. 4. Even the old Lapbands when comparing similar trials have better weight loss than the Realize band 62% in 36 months vs 43% in 36 months.

LAPBand left in empty - LAPBAND AP - left in with fluid

I have provided you substantial clinical proof that your odds of losing more weight faster with the new lap bands is greater than that of the Realize Band - yet for some reason you insist on ignoring it- Im not wasting anymore of my time to trying to help anyone on this site because you people are way to close-minded and stubborn -good luck

The Lap Band ports have titanium chips inside them to see under flouro. Do you really think The Lap Band was improved 3 times and they forgot that little detail? You have to remember the Realize Band is the Swedish Band from 1996 in a new box. The Lap Band AP came out in 2007. Your comparing old technology to new technology. Im not saying you won't lose weight or it's bad, but it is old, there's no argument for that- call Johnson and Johnson and ask them, they have to disclose that fact.

if your doctor is implanting the new LapBand AP empty he or she does not fully understand the design changes of the band. It is designed to implanted with Fluid in it for a reason. The fluid does not effect the healing process in any way due to the shape and distribution of fluid inside the band. But he or she is the surgeon and they can practice how they want-however the weight loss will theoretically be lower. If you were banded on sept 5th- unless you have a ridiculous amount of fat around the area were the band was placed you're most likely swollen, not restricited - once that goes does down, food will go down easier- monitor your progress very carefully and be aware of changes in the amount of food that goes down- you're doing great, keep it up! were all rooting for you!

isn't what the patient looking weight loss? What other things are you looking for?

You're telling me to get a life yet you voluntarily jumped into this thread attacking and making judgements when you clearly have no knowledge of Gastric Banding or advances in medicine. The bottom line is you cannot produce a study which shows superiority in EWL for the Realize Band because there isn't one. I'm sharing with you information that most people don't know and you're making me sound like I'm doing something wrong.

That's an unfair comparison. First of all, your comparing the Realize Band which is a low pressure band vs the OLD Lapbands with high pressure systems which had higher erosion rates. Some of the participants in those studies with the Lapband were done with the Perigastic approach which is no longer used due to higher complications. Its basically a different surgical technique which is no longer used in LapBand Surgery. I don't hate the Realize band or anyone else. What I do hate is deceptive marketing which is what Johnson and Johnson is all about. This is reason for my posts, this is the exact bullshit Johnson and Johnson spews out, biased unfair comparisions and deceptive marketing. Compare the Jaime Ponce trial data with over 1000 lapband patients, still using older bands but with the Pars Flaccida approach to placing the band: slippage 1.4% erosions 0.2% tubing problems 0.5% obstruction 1.4% Weight loss: 40% at 12 months (about = to the Realize Band at 3 years) 52% at 24 Months 62% at 3 years Further, saying if "it ain't broke don't fix it" doesn't apply to medicine, that is really an ignorant statement - the reason why we all live longer lives is because companies put millions of dollars into research and development to make products better they work better for patients. People come here for advice so if your not an advanced laproscopic surgeon which who knows what they are talking about, you really should stop saying these products are equal unless you have clinical proof to back it up, comparing apples to apples-not a reprint which compares different pressure bands and the way they were implanted.

based on which clinical trial is the 2 to 3 year data the same? Please cite your references

less complications as compared to what? Which complications are higher with Lapband? You clearly do not have an understanding of Johnson and Johnsons agenda. There are 5 bands in Europe and the Swedish band is the least popular. If has been used 100,000 times vs over 400,000 times with the Lapband. J&J wanted to enter the banding market so they acquired Obtech who distributes the Swedish Band, developed nothing but the website. This band is being used only to enter the market. Their next generation band will be out next year to if this old technology was so good that wouldn't be happening would it? y

The bands DO NOT offer the same results. A band is not a band as much as BMW is not a KIA.You cannot judge by an individual result here and there as opposed to a clinical trial with over 1000 patients. You cannot compare a product that came out in 1996 that Johnson and Johnson put in a new box and changed the name from Swedish band to Realize to a product that has been re-engineered 3 times that can be implanted with a prefill and has design changes to prevent erosion built into it. Im not sayingthe Realize is bad, but it 12 years old and you cannot tell me the technology that went into making medical devices 12 years ago is the same as it is now-that just doesn't make any logical sense.

The 43% EWL is on the Realize web site. The 62% EWL with Lapband was done on a few years ago by Dr.Jaime Ponce in a clinical trial with over 1000 patients - you can google it. I saw a copy in my docs office. The 62% weight loss trial was done by Paul OBrien which can be googled too.