In Part One, we came to the reluctant conclusion that the sleeve, safe procedure though it is, has a near 3 percent leak rate. Incidentally, the two of us at BMI have not yet had a leak in nearly five years of practice. For whatever reason though it may be (luck?), we would like to [...]
Our patients are counseled in details about the pros and cons of various bariatric procedures, especially the one they are going in for. In today’s practice, most of our patients tend to favor the Sleeve Gastrectomy for its safety, ease of maintenance and less restrictive lifestyle. It also may be cheaper than the bypass to [...]
Terms always change. This is because it gives a lot of people necessary employment. Take this business of changing the names of cities and countries. Take the terms which are no longer kosher (like ‘handicapped’, ‘housewife’, etc.). Has the world or reality changed because we employ new terms? Clearly, no one will claim that, except [...]
All surgeons know that, thanks to popular media and the hospitals that push the concept, the lay public think that lasers are exciting miracle gadgets for any surgery. People forget the fact that lasers are only applicable in a handful of situations across specialities, with the most use being in retinal surgery and dermatology. Now, [...]
Hot off the presses, the revered New England Journal of Medicine has published this new research on American Indian children who were “assessed whether body-mass index (BMI), glucose tolerance, and blood pressure and cholesterol levels predicted premature death.” The researchers concluded that “Obesity, glucose intolerance, and hypertension in childhood were strongly associated with increased rates [...]
From General Surgery News (free registration required for login): Babies born to mothers who have had bariatric surgery are strikingly healthier at birth and throughout childhood than siblings who were born before their mother’s surgery, according to results from a large new study from Quebec. Even as they grow, children mirror their mother’s metabolic health [...]
According to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine (September 1 edition), a Mediterranean diet low in carbs scored far better in diabetics than a low fat diet as recommended by the American Heart Association. Article source here. A summary in Medpage Today says that “Among diabetics who followed a Mediterranean-style diet, only [...]
Many patients and physicians are averse to bariatric surgery for the management of morbid obesity and its attendant evils of diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, etc. Fair enough, I say, but then how do you achieve fat loss when you are unlikely to be in the 5% who will achieve it with lifestyle changes? Clearly, people [...]
According to this news report, a study published in the British Journal of Nutrition found that people eating a large amount of polished, white rice had a higher prevalence of diabetes mellitus. Conversely, dairy consumption was inversely proportional to diabetes prevalence. The study was based in Chennai at the famous ‘Dr. Mohan’s Diabetes Speciality Center’. [...]
Abstract of original article is here. The study compares over 75,000 rural people and follows them up over ten years. The study has the interesting finding that the lower the BMI, the higher the mortality. This underscores once again that the problems of rural India are different from those of urban India. A similar study [...]