The researchers do note that the figures are statistical and may not show the true numbers.

Weight Loss Surgery No Increased Risk For Over 65

Many experts are behind the new study and hope that such findings will eventually label weight loss surgery safe for many more seniors. Robert B. Dorman, MD, PhD, a general surgery resident at the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis, said:

“If the patient is over age 65, and they’re otherwise relatively healthy, I think this study gives surgeons an opportunity to tell the patients that they can undergo these operations with relatively similar outcomes compared to younger age populations,”

From 2005 – 2009 when the study was being conducted, the number of adults over 65 opting for weight loss surgery more than doubled, and it’s because of this dramatic rise in numbers that experts such as Thomas H. Magnuson, MD, director of the Johns Hopkins Obesity Surgery Service in Baltimore agree that it’s important to make sure the ‘outcomes are still safe’.

Magnuson also noted that weight loss surgery provides the elderly with more benefits that simply dropping pounds and regaining self esteem:

“Older patients definitely benefit from the operation oftentimes more in terms of quality of life. If you can have someone who is 72 years old lose 100 pounds, they can get better quality of life, such as, you know flying on an airplane with their grandkids or just getting around better to enjoy life,”

The study was presented at Digestive Disease Week 2011 in Chicago.

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The system, called Abiliti and devleoped by Intrapace, uses the same technology found in traditional pacemakers, however Abiliti attaches to the vagus nerve – - instead of the heart. When the device detects the patient has consumed enough food, it administers a tiny, painless electric shock that stimulates the nerve which in turn, tells the brain the stomach is full.

Abiliti Weight Loss Gastric Pacemaker

Intrapace reported that in a trial involving 65 participants, the average amount of weight lost was 22 percent, with the most losing 38 percent. One patient who lost 22 of his 229 lbs told AP reporter Maria Cheng that device made him feel full after consuming just half of what he would usual eat: “It feels like a little pressure on my stomach or a tickle, but it’s not a bad feeling,”

Image Credit: Intrapace, 2011.

But some experts worry that other factors which drive people to eat excessively may easily override the ‘full’ sensation that the device induces. Stephen Rossner, an expert quote by Cheng said:

“A lot of obese patients eat because they’re depressed, they can’t sleep at night, or they have nobody to have sex with. So whatever you insert into their stomach, they can out-eat that device because it’s other things that drive them to consume.” [Discover Mag]

Nevertheless the simple device has already been successful for some, which makes it the oneof the only effective alternatives to gastric bypass or lap band surgery,.Unfortunately it is currently only available in the UK, Spain and Germany, however Intrapace plans to have Abiliti on the U.S. Market by 2014.

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The Lap-Band, also known as Lap-Band Adjustable Gastric Banding, is an inflatable band that wraps round the stomach to reduce its size and minimized the amount of food that enters. The procedure was developed by Californian company Allergan Inc.

According to report release by Allergan, around 37 million Americans are clinically obese and have at least one obesity-related condition. Being clinically obese can put extreme strain on the body complex systems and often leads to diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and even some types of cancer.

FDA Approves Lap Band Surgery

Although Lap-Band surgery is now available to people with a BMI of 30-35, experts still say the surgery should only be performed when diets and other weight loss programs have failed.

Robert Michaelson, MD, PhD, of Northwest Surgical Weight Loss Surgery in Everett, Wash., praised the surgery in a recent news release, but noted that such a procedure brings a significant change to ones diet, and these changes require a long-term commitment to adhere to the new eating habits.

The procedure is not considered safe for pregnant women, children, or patients with ongoing alcohol or substance abuse. Other conditions that can increase the risk of complications from lap-band surgery include GI disorders, cirrhosis, heart or lung problems, inflammatory disease, or autoimmune disease.

The new approval comes following a five year study of the LBAGB system in 149 patients who had a BMI of 30 – 40 and had been obese for 17 years prior to the surgery. To meet the FDA requirements, 40 percent of the patients had to shed at least 30 percent of their excess weight. At the end of the study an astonishing 84 percent of participants lost the required amount of weight in under a year, and 65 percent of all participants were no longer considered clinically obese. Furthermore, all the patients kept the weight off during the second year of the study. Allergan Inc said it plans to track the progress of the patients for the next five years.

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The three men, Alonzo Bland, 33, and brothers Walt, 56, and David Anderson, 50, moved to the northern Chinese city of Tianjin in the middle of this year after winning a contest promoting traditional Chinese medicine, from the U.S. company China Connection.

The strict regime includes acupuncture in their hotel bedrooms at the Aimin Fat Reduction Hospital, a typical Chinese diet of rice, tofu, meat, vegetables and soup, as well as regular exercise.

Doctors say that acupuncture helps to increase metabolism rate and also reduces the appetite. Exercise helps to burn off the bodies fat reserves and the healthy diet ensures the patient consumes all the necessary nutrients during the program.

Since his arrival Bland has lost 227 lbs, dropping from 641 lbs to 414 lbs. Bland, who had a tracheotomy in 2000 because the fat in his face was putting too much pressure on his windpipe, said:

“The reason why I think it works here is that China is away from everything, all the stuff that I’m familiar with.”

David Anderson told reporters how he could not walk 20 feet without stopping to catch his breath. He now weighs 229 lbs after loosing 90 lbs.

His brother Walt, has lost 106 lbs and now weighs 394 lbs.

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Malissa Jones, now 18, weighed a staggering 34 stone when she was 16. She admits to constantly gorging on chocolate, crisps and junk food, and would sometimes consume 10 chocolate bars at once.

Dietitians estimate that Malissa was eating roughly 15,000 calories a day, 7½ times the recommended 2,000 cals for a girl her age.

By the time she was 17, Malissa was barely able to move, she need oxygen to assist her breathing while sleeping and she suffered from the heart disease angina.

Despite the risks for her age group, Malissa decided to have the bypass. She is the youngest person in the world to undergo the procedure.

“Doctors warned me there was a strong risk I could die from the op. But I knew I had no choice. Without it I would have died anyway.”

The surgery was success and helped Malissa to lose more than half her own body weight in just one year.

Now she plans to have more cosmetic surgery to remove the 14 lbs (1 stone) of excess skin left after her dramatic weight loss.

(Click here if you would like to find out more about Gastric Bypass and Weight Loss Surgery.)

“I’ve discovered a whole new world. I’m out every weekend clubbing. I’ve had a lot more boyfriends because I feel much more attractive and confident.”

Malissa’s eating problems started when she was just TWO and spiraled out of control when she was seven. Malissa explains:

“My mum had a stillborn baby and with so much upset in the family, food was comforting. When I was seven my parents separated and I got fatter. I couldn’t fit into a school uniform or run around the playground.”

Her mum Dawn, 45, took her to visit the doctors and locked the kitchen cupboards, but Malissa would still managed to steal food at home and buy Mars bars and Snickers with her pocket money.

“I knew Malissa was far too fat. But her eating habits proved impossible for anyone to control.” Dawn said.
During the night, Malissa admits to secretly stealing and partially microwaving burgers and nuggets from the freezer. She would thaw them just soft enough to chew.

“I was so ravenous I didn’t care. Other times I’d have 10 Mars bars in one go. I never felt sick…

“I only felt happy when I had food in my mouth. The longest I could go without eating was four hours. By then my body would be shaking like a drug addicts.”

At her heaviest, 5ft 8in Malissa had a Body Mass Index of 72.4. The healthy range is 18.5 to 25.

She was referred to an eating disorders specialist, counselors and nutritionists, but nothing worked.

“My life was a nightmare. I was constantly teased at school, and was in and out of hospital with kidney and chest infections. At 15, I collapsed with chest pains and was rushed to hospital with the first of three suspected heart attacks. I was diagnosed with angina…

“I also had sleep apnoea, where my weight pressed into my neck and cut off my breathing. And my body got so large I couldn’t get enough oxygen…

“I’d have bad asthma and spend most of the day stuck in a chair unable to move. At night I wore an oxygen mask to keep me alive…

“[At age 17]Doctors told me my weight was crushing my internal organs. I was so ill I had only months to live and I might not see my 18th birthday.”

Malissa thought her only hope was a gastric bypass to drastically reduce the size of her stomach and restrict the amount she could eat.

A year after her 36 hours operation, Malissa now weighs 14 stone (476 lbs), is size 16 and eats 1,000 calories a day.

Her asthma has gone and she has a full-time job in business admin. Malissa said:

“I’ve massive scars down my body where they had to slice through so much flesh to get to my stomach…
“But my confidence has soared and most of all I enjoy going out and looking normal.”

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A journalist for the UK’s Guardian Newspaper and social affairs correspondent for Channel 4 News, Victoria Macdonald, interview several doctors and politicians to find out the real scope on obesity in the UK.

Obesity is a growing problem in the UK. A government report suggests almost nine in ten adults and two-thirds of children will be obese or overweight by the year 2050, unless we act now.
In one tale of defeat, doctors in a south of England hospital said they had to remove the arms from the chairs in the pediatric unit waiting room because obese children and their obese parents were in danger of becoming stuck every time they sat down.

According to Macdonald one doctor said somewhat despairingly that when he sees the overweight child, accompanied by the overweight mother and the overweight grandmother, he fears that he will make no significant impact on that young person’s health. That they will, in their turn, grow up to be obese and will very likely suffer from the associated health problems, such as diabetes or heart disease.

Trying to warn a whole nation on the dangers of eating is difficult task. “Smoking Kills” is an easy message to get across but “overeating kills” is a little more complex.

“We talk about people being ‘at risk of obesity’ instead of talking about people who eat too much and take too little exercise,” says Tory leader David Cameron.

The general consensus among politicians is to take an approach of libertarian paternalism – otherwise known as Nudge. This political concept states that all individuals should be free to make their own choices, but that sometimes they need the tools to help them make the right choice, in other words, a nudge.

The health secretary, Alan Johnson told a Fabian Society meeting last week that obese people must not be vilified, that lecturing them will not make them change their behavior. Instead, obesity requires all of society to engage, to fight this battle, he said, describing a “broader partnership, not only with families, but with employers, retailers, the leisure industry, the media, local government and the voluntary sector”.

Telling a nation to exercise more and eat five vegetables a day; or telling kids not to eat too much junk will simply not work. Instead, more subtle approaches need to be taken. For example, planning laws should change so there are no fast-food outlets at the school gates; playing fields and sports facilities need to be more accessible and more importantly “everyone, from the smallest community keep-fit class to the biggest retailers in the land” need to join in, Johnson said.

On the day Johnson made his Fabian Society speech, he also announced that several companies including Coca-Cola, Kellogg’s and Nestle, all headed by the Advertising Association, had “pledged” more than £200m towards tackling obesity.

While this may seem like a step in the right direction, the “£200m” claim needs to be treated with a pinch of salt. These very companies often entice the public by way of promotional offers. In one example Cadbury offered a free football net in return for a number of chocolate bar wrappers. So how many chocolate bars would one have to eat to “win” one football net? Only 5,400.

Unless big corporations and food manufacturers get together with the government and put in place a real structure for tackling obesity, the UK’s overweight epidemic may be here to stay.

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“Everything about me was already so public (mostly my own doing talk about dumb!), so of course everyone wanted to know what I had done. I was also terrified someone would have a tragic result after emulating me without making an informed decision with the doctor.”

Reynolds describes how out-of-control behavior began around her 40th birthday in 2002. Over the course of 17 months she rapidly gained 75 pounds (34 kg), weighing 307 pounds (139.25 kg) at her heaviest.

“I used to look in the mirror and take pride in my figure, but that was when I was legitimately a full-figured woman,” she says. “I’d gradually gone from full-figured to morbidly obese.”

“But the complete truth is, I was scared of what people might think of me,” she continues. “I was afraid to be vulnerable, and ashamed at not being able to get myself under control without this procedure.”

Now, nearly a year after speaking up about her weight loss surgery Star Jones Reynolds is still dealing with scrutiny from the media. In May earlier this year, colleague Barbra Walters appeared on Oprah Winfrey’s TV show to talk about her new book “Audition”, in which Walters admits many things including her two year affair with married African-American Sen. Edward Brooke in the 1970s.

During the show Walters claimed she had to lie about Jones’ dramatic 160-pound weight loss in 2003, after Jones refused to appear on an episode of “20/20″ to discuss the surgery.

“We thought it would be helpful for people to see her losing and losing and losing weight, they should understand the dangers and the good things and so forth,” Walters said. “Then she decided she would tell nobody, and we had to then lie on the set every day.”

Reynolds has spoken up against Walters’ claim, arguing it was Walters who asked Jones to lie about her gastric-bypass surgery.

“It is a sad day when an icon like Barbara Walters, in the sunset of her life, is reduced to publicly branding herself as an adulterer, humiliating an innocent family with accounts of her illicit affair and speaking negatively against me all for the sake of selling a book,” Jones told Us. “It speaks to her true character.”

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The lap band sits around the top of stomach to create a smaller gastric pouch, providing the similar function as a belt. The band is also connected to an access port below the surface of the skin.

The access port allows the surgeon to inflate or deflate the band by injecting or removing saline.

This inflatable ring helps control the amount of food that the stomach can hold at any one time. As the lap band is periodically inflated, the gastric pouch shrinks and the patient experiences a quicker sensation of fullness.

The reduced gastric pouch not only limits the amount of food the patient can consume, it also causes the food to empty slowly out of the stomach, resulting in the patient feeling full for longer.

This technique can help patients reduce their weight by 1-3 lbs. per week.

The adjustable system of the lap band is one of the main components which make lap band surgery very successful when it comes to weight loss.

Adjustments to the lap band are determined by the patient’s weight loss, the amount of food which can be comfortably consumed, as well as other issues regarding the patient’s health.

The lap band procedure has been widely used in Europe and Australia since 1993 and was later approved by the US FDA in June 2001.

We at ThaiMed specialize in personal medical packages to Bangkok, Thailand. If you would like to find out more regarding lap band surgery please continue reading.
If you would like find out more about what we offer in our personalized medical packages for Bariatric Surgery and Lap Band Sugery.

Best Candidate For Lap Band Surgery

The requirements for lap-band surgery are similar to any other weight loss surgery. These criteria were originally set in the early 1990s and have not changed.

Patients who are at least 60 pounds overweight may consider the lap band System.

A better way to judge whether lap band surgery is right for you, is to measure your body mass index (BMI). Lap band surgery is usually recommended for patients with a BMI of 30-65.

If your BMI is between 35 and 39, you must have other severe medical problems in order to be classed as a suitable candidate for the lap band.

Co-Morbidity Include The Following Medical Conditions:

• Diabetes.
• Hypertension.
• High cholesterol.

BMI Calculator

According to previous medical studies, clinically severe obese people have a 100% failure rate when it comes to loosing weight. Surgery is therefore necessary for patients with serve morbid obesity.

Advantages of gastric banding include:

• No cutting or stapling of the stomach.
• Adjustable pouch and stoma size.
• Short hospital stay.
• Fully reversible surgery.

Before Lap Banding

The doctor will discuss with you the reasons why you wish to have lap band surgery. He will then measure your BMI and check you medical history to see if you are a good candidate for the surgery.

The Lap Band Procedure

The operation is performed under general anesthesia and usually last between 30 minutes to 1 hour.

The surgeon uses a laparoscope – a thin device with an attached camera – to see inside the body and visualize the placement of the lap band.

The surgeon makes small 1cm incisions in the abdomen into which the gastric band device is inserted.

Using the laparoscope the surgeon places the lap band around the top of the stomach forming a 15cc small pouch, the lap band is then held in place with sutures.

The surgeon connects the lap band to an access port which is placed underneath the skin on the top part of the abdomen.

The band can be inflated or deflated at any time. Your surgeon will advise you on when to come and adjust the band to help you loose weight and reach your preferred BMI.

Laparoscopic surgery is not always possible. If your surgeon determines that your case may not be suitable for laparoscopic surgery, you may need an open surgery method. Open surgery has only been required for around 5% of Lap Band surgery cases.

Lap Band Risks and Complications

As with any surgical procedure, there are known complications that may arise. These include bleeding and infection; however there are also some risks which are specific to Lap Band Surgery.

Lap Band Risks Include:

• Slippage of the Band – On rare occasions, as you loose weight the band can slip causing heart burn or vomiting. This can usually be fixed laparoscopically. The band may also erode into the inside of the stomach.
• Spontaneous Deflation – The band can suddenly leak, either from the band itself, the reservoir or the tubing that connects them.
• The stomach pouch can enlarge.
• The stoma (stomach outlet) can be blocked.

Post-Op Lap Band and Recovery Period

Following the surgery you should able to return to work in approx a week. By this time you should feel minimal discomfort.

The surgeon will devise a strict nutrition plan which may include vitamin supplements. The nutrition plan is likely to consist of a liquid diet for the first few weeks or until you can tolerate solid foods.

You will also be advised to stick to a specific exercise program and behavioral-modification therapy to help you deal with lesser amounts of food you will consume.

To adjust the band you will be required to visit the office on a regular basis. On average, patients must adjust the lap band six to eight times in the first 18 months following the surgery.

You may feel some discomfort if the band is too tight, however the saline can be removed just as easily as it is injected.

The adjustment of the lap band takes place in a radiology suite; the procedure is painless and usually takes around 15 minutes

Within two of the surgery, you are likely to lose 50% to 60% of your excess body weight. Depending on how much weight you have lost, you may also be required to undergo additional plastic surgery.

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The sisters from Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, made medical history last year when they both had live saving operations to remove their stomachs, on the same day in the same hospital.

The Bendle sisters were found to carry a gene that puts them at greater risk of cancer. The genetic mutation of the E-Cadherin (CAD1) gene is thought to be responsible for causing stomach cancer as well as some types of breast and bowel cancer.

Stomach cancer has already claimed the lives of several of their family and without the radical surgery, the two sisters who have almost certainly died.

But with the rogue gene still part of their genetic make up, they still face the very real prospect of further life-threatening diseases. As Lisa, a schoolteacher explains:

“Unfortunately, we now have to confront the fact that we have a higher than average risk of contracting breast cancer, and if we want to beat those odds, we have to start the screening process….

“We also have to consider screening for bowel cancer.”

The screening process involves more pre-emptive surgery such as a mastectomy, or a procedure to have parts of the bowel removed and a colostomy bag fitted. The girls are fully aware that these preventative treatments can cause other major health problems however, if they do not take action, they face the constant dread of the disease. Ruth, a sociology and media studies student said,

“Of course it hangs over us,

“We can’t lead the normal, carefree lives that most girls our age have, which can be very upsetting.

“It can be particularly difficult when people moan away about having a cold or an upset stomach and I have to bite my lip. But I would have been the same a few years ago. They are normal – we are not.”

Genetic experts at the Addenbrooke’s Familial Gastric Cancer Registry in Cambridge, UK, think that the genetic mutation first appeared in the Bendles’ paternal grandmother, who died when she was just 27.

The girls aunt passed away when she was 43, just a week before their cousin died, aged 18, and three years ago, their father David also, died of stomach cancer

“Dad felt so guilty that he might be responsible for passing on such a dreadful legacy,,But it was just bad luck.”

The girls’ initial endoscopic examinations taken in December 2005 came back clear. It was later in July 2006 when further test were taken, that the family got the news they had been dreading. The girls mother Lynn, 52, a teacher recalled,

“Even as we went into hospital, we were reasoning that it couldn’t be both girls that were affected,”

Unfortunately, the doctor came back with news that both girls had been affected. Ruth’s situation proved to be more serious than Lisa, who had only a few early-stage cancer cells, but for both, the only chance of survival was a gastrectomy – the surgical removal of the stomach.

The sisters were put under the care of world-renowned gastric surgeon Richard Hardwick, who carried out the surgery on both girls at Addenbrooke’s Hospital.

When Ruth had her stomach removed in September 2006, the organ was found to be riddled with cancer. Fortunately, it hadn’t spread from her stomach into her blood supply, but had she kept her stomach, she would have been dead within a year.

Since the operation the girls have found it difficult to lead a normal life. After a gastrectomy and without a stomach, the esophagus joins directly to the small bowel.

This means food can only be taken in very small amounts. Sometimes this food can get lodged causing intense discomfort and/or vomiting.

To ensure they get the required amount of calories, the girls must eat little and often.

“When we are not eating, we are recovering from eating, or planning the next snack,” says Lisa,.

“Basically, food has taken over our lives.”

Despite trying to eat high calorie foods, both the girls’ weight has been seriously affected.

Lisa shrunk from a size 14 to a tiny size eight and Ruth plummeted from a size 10 to a size 4.

The girls also found it difficult to return to everyday life. Ruth explains

“I truly hated being so thin,”

“I couldn’t find clothes to fit me and felt that everyone was staring at me. I didn’t recognize myself when I looked in the mirror…

“[also]The student culture is geared to drinking and late-night curries – things I just can’t do,”

On the bright side the family has received good news, Lisa explains,

“All but one of our cousins has now been screened, and none of them carries the gene.

“If we manage to screen it out of our children through embryonic gene selection, this terrible disease, which has caused so much grief and misery, will be gone from our family for ever. That would be an amazing ending to the Bendle story,”

“I’m quite happy for the doctors to keep removing bits of me, as long as it keeps me alive,” says Ruth.

“Obviously, I am not happy about the prospect of undergoing a mastectomy – what 22-year-old girl would be? But I trust the doctors implicitly. If they say I need surgery again, then I would have it without hesitation.”

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Alec Hutchinson, three, was born with Congenitally Corrected Transposition, an extremely rare condition which caused his heart pumped blood the wrong way around his body.

In sufferers, the artery taking oxygenated blood to the body, the aorta, is connected to the smaller pumping chamber of the heart, the right ventricle.

This means the heart cannot create a large enough amount of pressure to push the blood sufficiently around the body. As a result of this, Alec had very low oxygen levels in his blood, and was often breathless and blue.

In order to correct Alec’s heart, surgeons at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle, England had to carryout and procedure known as a ‘double switch’.

There was a one in five chance that Alec would not survive the operation – but thankfully everything went to plan.

Because of their success, the Freeman Hospital will now offer the procedure to other youngsters with the same condition.

Mr. Hutchinson, 41, a maintenance engineer, said:

“Everyone thought it was just a viral infection at first but we knew something was wrong. He was just crying all the time and it was as if he was panting for breath,.

“They ran tests and eventually found he had an irregular heartbeat. Then we were told things were bad and he had a hole in his heart.”

Heart surgeon Asif Hasan said that further investigation revealed the extent of Alec’s condition.

“Alec’s heart was pretty scrambled really,” he said.

“The blue blood which comes into the heart was coming into the wrong side. He was blue because he had a low level of oxygen in his blood and he couldn’t have survived without an operation,

“We had to switch the blood vessels around so his heart was correctly connected. It’s a big operation but it went well. He was out of intensive care quickly and now he is home…

“His prognosis is good and he should lead a normal life. It’s an unusual operation to do and it’s the first one we have done here in Newcastle.”

Mr. Hutchinson said that Alec had found the operation draining, but had soon bounced back.

“Alec is back to his old self, bossing everybody around. He’s been a brave lad. Since the operation he’s been able to ride his bike again.”

Miss Hall, 30, a nursery assistant, added: “I’m over the moon now it’s all over. He’s back to his cheeky little self.”

Alec’s condition became apparent when he was just five weeks old. An initial operation to improve his condition was immediately carried out but the family was told that Alec would need the Double Switch while he was still very young.

Alec is now recovering with his parents, Lynne Hall and Brian Hutchinson, in Dipton, County Durham and is expected to lead a perfectly normal life.

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