Annals of Internal Medicine article on the perils of the DS

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/06/us-surgery-weightl oss-idUSTRE7855YR20110906

If this article has already been posted, my apologies. Any opinions?

IMHO I say it is crap. All you have to do is read the main board of all of the RNY'ers complaints and then read the article.

I think that's the same study that was on here this morning, and someone mentioned the vitamins those participants were taking. They were so inadequate, I think it says more about ****ty follow up care.

Very misleading. Obstructions are a result of abdominal surgery. Has nothing to do with the type of surgery. Problems with malnutrition are very manageable... if the patient gets the proper aftercare instructions. Sure some have problems regardless, but I believe the vast majority can manage very well by proper supplementation and adequate protein intake.

And I think this statement is laughable:

"He pointed out, though, that larger, longer-term studies are still needed to show whether the extra weight loss with duodenal switch ultimately improves severely obese patients' health and extends their lives."

Seriously. When all the doctors beat into our heads that our health problems would be vastly improved if we would only lose weight... how can he say that "...longer-term studies are still needed to show whether the extra weight loss with duodenal switch ultimately improves severely obese patients' health and extends their lives"?

I sure would like to know the thought process and agenda behind this doctor's skewed conclusion to this study.

Thanks to the vets that reply on this.  As a pre-op, I weigh (no pun intended) all of my options closely and have been studying this surgery for 3 years now.  This article left me breathless.   I have to assume whoever the doctors were that were in the article obviously don't perform the DS and don't understand the benefits.  I was so anxious to get home today to see what others opinions were on this article!!

I have the whole study and honestly they weren't supplementing well.  They had patients on 800 IU of Vitamin D3 post-op and they only gave B12 to the RNY group. 

Really odd study, honestly.  BUT this is a popular journal in internal medicine so we will be fighting this battle with PCPs.  Ugh...

Then the study is worthless with those parameters. How very irresponsible of them.

Three words for the authors of this article and Dr. Livingston:
QUALITY OF LIFE