Weight-Loss Surgery Overview

Obesity: A Disease

Obesity is emerging as a health epidemic around the world. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, obesity is rapidly spreading across all regions and demographic groups. The 2004 obesity rate stands at a startling 23% of the Canadian population. Obesity among adults in Canada has nearly doubled since 1980, while the number of overweight adolescents has nearly tripled.

Obesity is an excess of total body fat, which results from caloric intake that exceeds energy usage. A measurement used to assess health risks of obesity is Body Mass Index (BMI). BMI is calculated by dividing body weight (lbs.) by height in inches squared (in2) and multiplying that amount by 703. The metric calculation for BMI is kg/m2.

BMI Classifications:

*Health risk mentioned here includes disease risk for type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. The BMI classification and health risk information above are based on Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults published by National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, in 1998.

Morbid Obesity

A person who generally weighs at least twice or 100 pounds more than his or her ideal weight or has a BMI of 40 or more is diagnosed as morbidly obese. The National Institutes of Health report that morbid obesity may considerably reduce life expectancy and is associated with an increased risk of developing conditions or diseases such as:

• Diabetes
• Stroke
• Hypertension
• Joint Problems
• Sleep Apnea
• Cancer
• Coronary Artery Disease
• Respiratory Problems

Treatment Options

Non-Surgical Treatment

Dieting, exercise, and medication have long been regarded as the conventional methods to achieve weight loss. Sometimes, these efforts are successful in the short term. However, for people who are morbidly obese, the results rarely last. Recent research reveals that conventional methods of weight loss generally fail to produce permanent weight loss. Several studies have shown that patients on diets, exercise programs, or medication are able to lose approximately 10% of their body weight but tend to regain two-thirds of it within one year, and almost all of it within five years.2 Another study found that less than 5% of patients in weight loss programs were able to maintain their reduced weight after five years.3

Surgical Treatment

Over the years, weight-loss surgery has proven to be a successful method for the treatment of morbid obesity.4  Surgical options have continued to evolve and [insert name of practice, hospital or Bariatric program] is pleased to be able to offer patients the LAP-BAND® System surgery—the gastric banding system with the most experience in the United States.. This procedure is the minimally invasive, adjustable and reversible, and has 10 times lower short-term mortality rate than gastric bypass5.  The LAP-BAND® System provides a unique tool that can help you achieve and maintain significant weight loss, improve your health, and enhance your quality of life.

1. Weight-Control Information Network (WIN) of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), a part of NIH, NIDDK statistics represent US adults over the age of 20.

1. American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) / American College of Endocrinology (ACE) Statement on the Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Obesity (1998 Revision). AACE/ACE Obesity Task Force. Endocr Pract. 1998; Vol. 4 No. 5: 297-330.

1. Kramer FM et al. Long-term follow-up of behavioral treatment for obesity: patterms of weight regain among men and women. Int J Obes 1989; 13:123-136.

1. SAGES/ASBS Guidelines for Laparoscopic and Conventional Surgical Treatment of Morbid Obesity. American Society for Bariatric Surgery. http://asbs.org/html/guidelines.html

1. Executive summary: Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding for the treatment of obesity (update and re-appraisal). The Australian Safety and Efficacy Register of New Interventional Procedures – Surgical (ASERNIPS) 2002.