NEW YORK, Nov. 30, 2006
The Truth About Obesity Surgery
Dr. Mitchell Roslin Expects More People Will Get Lap-Band Surgery
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Play CBS Video Video Weight Loss & Lap Band Surgery Weight loss surgery was done nearly 175,000 times last year, most of which were gastric bypass surgery. Julie Chen speaks with Dr. Mitchell Roslin about another type of surgery, lap band surgery.
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Dr. Mitchell Roslin explains on 'The Early Show" how a lap-band surgery works. (CBS/The Early Show)
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Quiz Are You Food Savvy? Have you consumed myths about diet and nutrition? Take these quizzes to find out.
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Interactive Food Pyramid The government's latest guidelines for healthy eating get personal.
As the country's weight problem gets more attention, people who are overweight are going to more extreme measures to take off the pounds. In this segment of the "Overweight in America" series, The Early Show took a look at the increasingly popular weight-loss surgeries.
According to the American Society for Bariatric Surgery, nearly 170,000 weight-loss surgical procedures were performed last year. About 110,000 of them were gastric bypass operations and about thirty percent were laparoscopic adjustable gastric band operations, which is commonly referred to as lap-band surgery.
Dr. Mitchell Roslin, chief of bariatric surgery at Lenox Hill hospital, said he expects the number of gastric bypass surgeries to stay the same and the lap-band to increase from about 30,000 to 60,000 a year. He said that at this point many people are still choosing gastric bypass because weight loss tends to be more dramatic.
"On average, people will lose about 70 percent of the amount they are overweight in one year, so the weight loss is really very fast," Dr. Roslin told The Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen. "The failure rate from that operation is very, very low, meaning people who don't lose weight."
Lap-band surgery is a popular option because it is easier to reverse. Dr. Roslin said the operation to reverse gastric bypass is actually more complicated than the initial operation. He said at his hospital, about 50 percent of patients are going with the lap-band surgery. In the past, 80 percent to 90 percent chose gastric bypass. He also said that people who are overweight but not morbidly obese are choosing the lap-band option.
As more people are looking to solve their weight problems with surgery, Dr. Roslin said insurance companies are making the procedures easier to pay for.
"Insurance companies are covering more and more bariatric surgeries, especially after last year's decision by the Center of Medicare Services, which has decided to cover obscenity surgery especially in centers that have good performance records and private insurers have followed suit by looking at bariatric programs."
But the long-term effectiveness of these surgeries is questioned by some experts. According a Metropolitan Life Insurance table, which measures ideal body weight, only 15 percent to 20 percent of bariatric patients reach the ideal body weight.
After gastric bypass surgery, many patients will regain 10 percent to 30 percent of the weight they initially lost. Although this does not mean that surgery isn't worthwhile, it shows that it is not a cure-all. Instead of seeing it as a quick fix, people should consider surgery to be valuable tools that can help severely obese individuals change their lives.
Dr. Roslin, who wrote a book called "Understanding Obesity Surgery" said the gastric bypass takes 80 to 120 minutes and costs about $25,000 to $30,000. The lap-band takes about 50 and costs about $18,000 to $22,000. Roslin said they both should last for life.
Here are some types of bariatric surgery:
For more information visit the American Society of Bariatric Surgery Website and the Lenox Hill Hospital site, nomoreobesity.com.
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- I think the downside of obesity surgery is very underplayed or reported. I had adjustable gastric lap band surgery in 2003 and spent most of the next 20 months throwing up every day, until I had to have the band removed because my esophagus was becoming damaged. My best friend died a year ago after going out of the country to have obesity surgery, since her health insurance here in the U.S. wouldn't cover anything at all obesity related. I know there are many people whose lives were probably saved by surgery, but I know there are many, many who had and continue to have terrible complications or even death, and I don't think there is enough of that reported. I also feel that most bariatric programs do no address the mental and emotional components of the disease of obesity adequately.
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- Before a center where I live will even consider you for baratric surgery you attend a seminar which explains the different methods and the necessary follow-up treatments, including the vitamins and b-12 injections. After you attend the seminar it is a long and complacated process to be considered. We are well educated before the surgery and require statements from all our doctors that we would be good canditates for the surgery. After all that I believe this Center of Excellance patients are well prepared to make the decision about if they want the surgery or not.
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- Please be aware the the decrease in stomach size also means a decrease in vitamins, minerals and nutrients absorbed by the digestive tract. This can lead to other health problems such as chronic fatigue, anemia and chronic viruses because of a compromised immune system which is fed by nutirents. We have treated at least 6 patients in our practice that were very ill 4 yrs. after bypass surgery. These patients need vitamins in powder and liquid form in high doses to feed the mitochondria that produce energy at the cellular level. I think counselors cover this in their sessions, but the patients do not understand the implications of starving the cells of vital vitmins and minerals.
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Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
