The safest weight-loss surgery

Iluvharleys · January 21, 2005

This article is in the Woman's World magizine this week:

It's become a popular choice for the very overweight: surgery that uses a band instead of a scalpel to make the stomach smaller. The reason? Lap-Band (Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding Procedure), as it's called, is safer, cheaper and may be just as effective as gastric bypass, according to experts. Interested? Here's what you need to know:

What it is: a 40-minute outpatient surgery, done under general anesthesia, which requires only a small incision to place an inflatable band around the upper part of the stomach and make it smaller. "The now golf-ball-size pouch holds much less food, so you feel full fast and eat much less," says Christine Ren, M.D., director of the New York University Program for Surgical Weight Loss. You need only return to the surgeon's office three to five times the following year to have the band adjusted with injections of saline.

Why it's safer than bypass: There's almost no risk of complications, a University of Chicago study found. "Surgeons are simply placing a band around the stomach, not cutting the stomach and intestines in two and reconnecting the parts, as with gastric bypass," explains Dr. Ren.

Big health benefits: Obese adults shed, on average, 45% of their excess weight two years after being fitted with a gastric band, which dramatically reduced their risk of obesity-related diseases, according Emory University researcher Hadar Spivak, M.D. For example, after the surgery:

73% of patients with GERD were symptom-free.

64% of patients with high cholesterol no longer needed medication.

33% of the patients with diabetes were able to stop taking insulin.

Who's a candidate? People carrying 100 or more extra pounds, 75 extra pounds if they have diabetes or high blood pressure.

Cost: From $12,000.00 to $20,000.00 (compared to $25,000.00 or more for gastric bypass). And about 40% of insurers now cover it.

By: Peg Verone

Jonathan · January 21, 2005

This is excellent. I've been looking for something concise to send to people asking me about what I'm about to do.

Great post!

leatha_g · January 21, 2005

Good to see there are finally some positive articles showing up out there. I'm sure there is more to come. Thanks Betty!

New Hope · January 21, 2005

Finally!!! Good article.

Mita · January 21, 2005

Finally recognition..

Good article

Rebeccalee · January 21, 2005

That's a pretty rosy picture of the lapband. It's nice to see a positive view of it. Thanks for sharing that one, Betty.

claraluz · January 21, 2005

Whoo Hoo! Finally! And my own surgeon quoted, too. He works with Emory University? Who knew?

Nancy

pati-o · January 21, 2005

YEAH! Now I can show my family something to prove that I didn't just jump into some experimental new thing-

Alexandra · January 22, 2005

Hey, that is really cool!! It's long overdue. It is a bit, um, boiled down (in the manner of women's magazines, ya know), but there's nothing actually false in it. And that's a huge improvement over the early press days!

claraluz · January 22, 2005

That's true, Alexandra. It's so boiled down that I asked myself whether I would understand the band at all from that article if I didn't already know what it is. But the title - "The Safest Weight Loss Surgery" redeems it for me.

Nancy