News Flash about bariatric surgery

JUST RECIEVED THIS FROM DEBBY AT bariatriceating.com & THOUGHT WE ALL NEEDED TO READ THIS!  WEE\HEN I WENT INTO THE DRS. OFFICE FOR MY CHECKUP SHE TOLD ME THEY ARE TAKING WAIST MEASUREMENTS BEFORE-3-6-9-12-= TO SEE THE RESULTS, AS PART OF THE REQUIREMENTS!  READ ON- The results of new research, published this Thursday’s in the New England Journal of Medicine, should put to rest uncertainties about the benefits and risks of weight loss surgery and may cause governments and insurers to rethink who should qualify for the procedure, some doctors said. The first long-term study of gastric bypass surgery and other radical obesity treatments show that they not only lead to lasting weight loss but also dramatically improve survival. The results are expected to lead to more such surgeries, possibly for less severely obese people, too. Researchers in Sweden and the United States separately found that obese people who underwent drastic surgery had a 30 to 40 percent lower risk of dying seven to ten years later compared with those who did not have such operations. Deaths from diabetes in the surgery group were dramatically cut by 92 percent; from cancer by 60 percent and from heart disease by 56 percent. Surprisingly, the surgery group had a higher risk of death from accidents, suicides and other causes not related to disease. The researchers are puzzled by this. Both studies were done before surgical advances that have led since to smaller incisions and faster recovery time. Experts say future long-term survival rates from obesity surgery should be even better. This fall, a panel of experts from the National Institutes of Health will revisit the obesity surgery guidelines. Current U.S. guidelines recommend that surgery be considered only after traditional ways to slim down have failed. Candidates must be at least 100 pounds overweight and have a BMI over 40, or BMI over 35 plus an obesity-related medical condition such as diabetes or high blood pressure. A spokesperson for America’s Health Insurance Plans, which represents 1,300 insurers, said the group will rely on any new recommendations from the federal government.