There was a nearly six-fold increase in the number of weight loss surgeries held in U.S. Between 1998 and 2002, a new study shows.
Approximately 14,000 gastric bypass surgeries were carried out in 1998, compared with almost 82,600 such surgeries in 2002.
Using hospital discharge data, the researchers concluded that the number of American adults having surgical weight loss procedures increased from 7 per 100,000 to 38.6 per 100,000 during the four-year period.They attribute the dramatic increase in the introduction of a laparoscopic adjustable gastric surgical procedure after FDA approval in 2001.
Although this surgery is more expensive and intensive time, patient recovery times are shorter, and surgery itself is less invasive ", researcher Tonya M. Smoot, PhD and colleagues wrote.
Loose Skin Weight Loss - Weight Loss Surgeries Increase Sixfold
. Weight loss surgery is increasingly recognized as the most effective treatment for a series of obesity-related diseases, Bariatric surgeon and General William Richards, MD, says WebMD. Richards is head of laparoendoscopic surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn.
It points out that in Vanderbilt, 75% of morbid obese patients with type 2 diabetes that have gastric bypass or gastric bands surgeries are essentially cured of the disease within one year of having surgery."I consider these procedures less weight loss surgeries than surgeries to reverse the many metabolic consequences deleterious to be morbid obese," says Richards.
"We are treating diabetes, sleep apnea, congestive heart failure, atherosclerosis, non-alcoholic liver disease and many other conditions related to obesity that are threatening to life. Surgery is by far the most effective treatment for these conditions in people They are morbid obese. "
Between 80% and 86% of gastric surgeries carried out between 1998 and 2002 were held in women, according to the new study, conducted by researchers at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, and published in the July of American issue. Public Health Journal.
Approximately one in five patients had type 2 diabetes, with men more likely to have the disease than women (30% vs. 17%). The next medical condition most commonly seen among obese patients was chronic pulmonary disease, seen in 14% of women and almost 4% of men.
The average age of patients with male and female surgery was 40. In 2002, more gastric weight loss surgeries were carried out in the south, with 47 procedures for every 100,000 adults, followed by the Northeast and the Midwest, With about 37 surgeries each, and the west with 28 surgeries for every 100,000 adults.
Laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery is still the most commonly achieved weight loss surgery in the US, but more and more patients are opting for gastric bands, which restricts the amount of food a person can eat closing a part of the stomach .
.Banding has the advantage of being less invasive than bypass surgery. It is also reversible with the removal of the band system. A disadvantage is that the bands requires frequent post-surgical medical visits for bandwidth adjustment.
Gastric bypass tends to be a better option for patients with diabetes, says Richards, because the procedure not only restricts the amount of food that the stomach can maintain, but restricts the absorption of calories and nutrients.
gastric bypass has proved to have a deep effect on diabetes that is independent of weight loss, "he says." Patients also tend to lose more weight with this procedure. But if a patient is highly motivated and is willing to see his surgeon once a month for the first year after surgery and then four or five times the second year, the laparoscopic adjustable gastric band may be the best option. "
