Weight Loss Surgery News and Research

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One third of homeless are obese

Amid some signs that America's obesity rates may be flattening out, media outlets report that one in three homeless people is obese and that bariatric surgery, which reduces stomach size, is becoming more common for patients as young as 12 or 13.

30 May 2012

Single-port laparoscopy bimanual robot abdominal surgery

Millions of Europeans undergo abdominal surgery each year to treat a range of different disorders, from cancer and heart disease to obesity. EU-funded researchers are developing innovative micro-robotics and micro-system technologies to make such surgeries less complicated, invasive and costly.

25 May 2012

Bariatric surgery may eliminate need for diabetes medication

Diabetes has become an epidemic in the United States, with the number of cases tripling over the last three decades. Most of those cases are Type 2 diabetes, which is linked to obesity and can lead to serious medical issues that range from heart disease to renal failure, blindness, and more.

29 Mar 2012

Bariatric surgery effectively controls diabetes

Overweight, diabetic patients who underwent bariatric surgery achieved significant improvement or remission of their diabetes, according to new research from Cleveland Clinic.

27 Mar 2012

Scientists discover cells that chaperone food antigens in the intestine

With every meal, immune cells in the intestine stand like sentries at a citadel, turning away harmful bacteria but allowing vitamins and nutrients to pass. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified the cells that chaperone food antigens, or proteins, in the intestine so that the immune system doesn't mount an attack.

15 Mar 2012

UCSD now offer novel weight-loss surgery, gastric plication

Patients seeking a weight-loss surgery that does not require an implanted device or permanent change to their anatomy, have a new clinical trial option at UC San Diego Health System. Santiago Horgan, MD, chief of minimally invasive surgery, and his team, now offer gastric plication, a novel surgery that folds the stomach into a smaller, more compact size.

12 Mar 2012

Bariatric surgery safe for CKD patients with obesity

Weight-loss surgery is safe for chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients who are obese, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology.

2 Mar 2012

World’s “fattest man” needs an army of carers

Keith Martin, 42, a 58-stone man who is believed to be the world’s fattest person, has revealed he is tended to by seven carers a day, costing an estimated £50,000 a year to the taxpayer.

15 Feb 2012

Study demonstrates safety of weight reduction surgery in morbidly obese adolescents

Today, about one in five children in the United States are obese. That means that in just one generation alone the number of obese kids in this country has quadrupled.

1 Feb 2012

Gastric bypass superior to lap banding finds study

A new study evaluates the best option in terms of weight loss surgery for those who need it. Researchers found gastric bypass patients lose more weight than gastric banding patients and keep it off longer. Even though banding is a simpler operation, nearly half of those patients were still obese after six years.

17 Jan 2012

Weight loss surgery can improve blood sugar control in diabetes patients

Weight loss surgery is not a cure for type 2 diabetes, but it can improve blood sugar control, according to a new study published in the British Journal of Surgery. Whereas some previous studies have claimed that up to 80 per cent of diabetes patients have been cured following gastric bypass surgery, researchers at Imperial College London found that only 41 per cent of patients achieve remission using more stringent criteria.

5 Jan 2012

Weight loss surgery cuts risk of heart attacks, strokes: Study

A new study shows that weight loss surgery clearly cuts the risk of heart attacks, strokes and death from cardiovascular disease. But the research also raises questions regarding which patients benefit the most from surgery.

4 Jan 2012

First Edition: December 13, 2011

Kaiser Health News staff writer Phil Galewitz talked with former Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Donald Berwick, who defended these federal health programs, but said they are trapped in a U.S. health system that promotes wasteful spending and inefficient care.

13 Dec 2011

New, incision-free surgery to manage chronic acid reflux

Adam Vasser would wake up at night choking on partially digested food and liquid. Stomach acid burned the delicate tissue of his throat. "I'd sleep really badly," he said. During the day, he sometimes suffered from heartburn.

19 Nov 2011

Medicare touts progress on closing doughnut hole

Meanwhile, MedPAC makes recommendations for controlling costs for "dual eligibles," and Medicare sees new rules bring costs down for weight loss surgery.

7 Nov 2011

HHS Secretary tours Alaska health care facilities; judge halts rollback of Ariz. same-sex benefits

Alaska has a message for HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius: Don't assume that health care delivery reform can work the same way in every state. That's the lesson Sen. Mark Begich says he tried to impart to Sebelius as he toured some of the state's health and early child care centers with her last week. Sebelius went to learn first-hand about the state's health services, the Indian Health Service, and how the health law is being implemented.

8 Sep 2011

Duodenal switch may lead to more weight loss but more complications: Study

A less usual and common type of obesity surgery may spur more weight loss than its far more popular cousin, gastric bypass - but at the price of greater long-term risks, researchers reported.

6 Sep 2011

Bariatric surgery is cost-effective but has long-term complications

The majority of people who undergo bariatric weight-loss surgery benefit from the procedure, but long-term complications and further surgery are not uncommon, according to a UK paper on late postoperative complications in the October issue of BJS, the British Journal of Surgery.

6 Sep 2011

Hospitals with higher surgical volumes less likely to cause unintentional serious injuries

Are you scheduled for heart bypass surgery or weight loss surgery? You might want to find out just how frequently different hospitals in your area are performing those procedures before deciding where to go. A new study finds that hospitals with higher surgical volumes for certain procedures are less likely to cause unintentional serious injuries to hospitalized patients when compared to those hospitals that perform the procedures less often.

2 Sep 2011

New ways for treating diabetes

Surgeons at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center are innovating new ways to treat diabetes using techniques from weight-loss surgery, including experimental procedures to improve blood glucose levels and address a major complication of the disease.

16 Jul 2011