The ASMBS Foundation and the Obesity Action Coalition have partnered with patients affected by obesity, healthcare professionals, healthcare industry supporters and concerned citizens in cities throughout the country for the Walk from Obesity.


The Walk from Obesity(SM) raises money to continue research and education that is a vital part of obesity and its treatments.All local citizens can get involved in a local Walk by walking or sponsoring someone who walks. More information can be found by visiting www.walkfromobesity.com.


Walk from Obesity(SM) - Walk on the Capitol was held in Washington, DC, on June 17, 2008. Thousands gathered with the goal of raising awareness of obesity, and Walks continue to be held across the nation in 2009. Check here and see if there is a walk scheduled in your area.


Allergan, manufacturer of the LAP-BAND® system, is among the top sponsors for the Walk. More options than ever are available for surgical treatment of obesity, which has become an epidemic in the U.S. and other developed countries. Read more about the LAP-BAND® system and other options here .

A Lighter Me / Mexio Weight Loss Surgery just launched Mexico Lap Band Surgery ( www.MexicoLapBandSurgery.com ). MexicoLapBandSurgery.com offers Adjustable Gastric Band Surgery (Realize Band Surgery) using the Lap Band by Allergan (formerly INAMED) or the newly FDA approved Johnson and Johnson at lowest cost guaranteed. Lowest cost Lap-Band weight loss surgery performed in Mexico by the best and most qualified surgeons at full service surgery center with a proven record of success.

Safe Weight Loss Surgery in Mexico - We offer adjustable gastric band surgery using the Lap Band by Allergan (formerly INAMED) or the newly FDA approved Johnson and Johnson Realize Bands, the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy (VSG) and Roux en Y Gastric Bypass (RNY) all performed using Laparoscopic approach by expert surgeons.


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HealthDay

By Madeline Vann

Friday, December 21, 2007


FRIDAY, Dec. 21 (HealthDay News) --The morbidly obese may not be the only people who should be eligible for bariatric surgery to lose weight, U.S. researchers report.


People with a body-mass index (BMI) less than the required 40 could still reap heart health benefits from the surgery, they say.


BMI is calculated based on height and weight. A healthy BMI ranges between 18.5 and 25. A person with a BMI of 40 -- for example, someone 5 feet 9 inches tall and 270 pounds -- is considered morbidly obese. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in three adults is obese.


Bariatric surgery options include gastric bypass and lap band surgeries. Typically, a person must have a BMI of 40, or be at least 100 pounds over their healthy weight, to qualify for these surgeries. People who have a BMI greater than 35 and suffer from a life-threatening illness, such as non-insulin dependent diabetes, sleep apnea or heart disease, can also qualify.


However, researchers at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas published data in the December issue of Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases suggesting that some otherwise healthy overweight people with a BMI lower than 40 may benefit. And they may benefit more from the surgery than people who are morbidly obese, the team added.


The study is among the first to evaluate the risk-factor relationship between BMI and cardiovascular disease as it relates to bariatric surgery criteria, said study author Dr. Edward Livingston, chairman of GI/endocrine surgery at UT Southwestern.


"Our results show that cardiovascular risk factors do not necessarily worsen with increasing obesity," Livingston said in a prepared statement. "They also support the concept that obesity, by itself, doesn't trigger an adverse cardiovascular risk profile or increased risk of death."


The research team analyzed health data from more than 17,200 adults who had a BMI greater than 20 and had participated in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination. The researchers assessed their heart disease risk factors with respect to their BMI. They found a subgroup of people whose BMIs were lower than 40 but who had significant heart disease risk factors.


This suggests that some patients who are obese but not morbidly obese could benefit from bariatric surgery, which can help reduce cardiovascular disease, said Livingston.


The research team theorized that some morbidly obese people may be more efficient than moderately overweight people at storing fat in their cells, so it does not have as great an effect on the cardiovascular system.



HealthDay

Copyright (c) 2007 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.

Salt Lake City - Severely obese patients who undergo gastric bypass surgery significantly reduce their risk of death from coronary heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, according to research published in the Aug. 23, 2007, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine. The study was led by a team of researchers from the University of Utah School of Medicine and LDS Hospital.


The 14-year study evaluated 15,850 severely obese patients, half of whom underwent gastric bypass surgery to reduce their weight. The mortality rate from coronary heart disease was 56 percent lower in the surgery group than in the non-surgery (control) group. The surgery group also showed a 60 percent lower death rate from cancer and a 92 percent lower death from diabetes than the non-surgery group, according to Ted D. Adams, Ph.D., M.P.H., the study's lead author,
Adams is a professor in the Division of Cardiovascular Genetics at the University of Utah School of Medicine and co-founder of the Intermountain Health and Fitness Institute at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City.


While mortality rates for specific diseases were lower in the surgery group, Adams said mortality rates from other causes such as accidents and suicide were 58 percent higher among those who had the weight loss surgery than the control group.


This study helps to further define the effects of gastric bypass surgery on long-term mortality. Reduction in death by any cause, and disease-specific deaths such as coronary heart disease, diabetes, and cancer were significantly reduced in surgery patients compared to the non-surgical control group, he said. However, rates of death not caused by disease were shown to be greater in those who underwent the weight-loss surgery when compared to controls.


The paper suggests at least some of these non-disease deaths in the surgery group may be due to unrecognized pre-surgical mood disorders or post-traumatic stress disorders, which appear to be more common in severely obese patients. Adams said the research shows the need for better methods of evaluating candidates for the surgery, including the possible need for psychological evaluation and psychiatric treatment before surgery, and aggressive follow-up after surgery.


The reduced mortality for any cause of death is likely related to significant health improvements that follow gastric bypass surgery, such as reduced blood pressure, improved or resolved diabetes, and reduced sleep apnea, says Adams.


Women accounted for 84 percent of the patients involved in the study.


The average body mass index (BMI), which is calculated by dividing a person's weight in kilograms by the square of the person's height, for patients in the surgery group was 45.3, and 46.7 for the non-surgery group.