Morning Talk Shows Highlight the Dangers of Weight Loss Surgery in Mexico… Colorado Teen Has Weight Loss Surgery, a Growing Trend for Adolescents with Obesity… Bariatric Surgery Reduces Risk of Skin Cancer… Eliminating Food Cravings with Magnetic Brain Stimulation… Almost One in Four People Will Have Obesity by 2045… Obesity Linked to 12 Types of Cancers in New Report… Early Pregnancy-Obesity Associated with Neurodevelopmental Delay in Offspring
Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery in the News
Woman’s Brush with Death Highlights Concerns Over Discount Weight Loss Surgeries in Mexico
CBS This Morning
Four people from Arizona have filed a class-action lawsuit against three doctors in Mexico and companies in the U.S. who arranged weight loss surgeries in Tijuana that turned out to be dangerous or life threating, claiming they concealed “the risks and dangers associated with having bariatric surgeries done in Tijuana.” Diana Thomas struggled with her weight for decades, at one point reaching 290 pounds. Her doctor suggested sleeve gastrectomy, but it can cost up to $20,000 in the U.S. and Thomas’ work insurance didn’t cover it. After finding an online company, Weight Loss Agents, that offered to help people get the procedure in Tijuana for $5,000, with a doctor named Mario Almanza, Thomas decided to undergo surgery. What she didnt know is that “patients who’ve gone to Mexico for weight loss surgery have suffered serious consequences”, said Dr. Samer Mattar, president of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, the largest society of bariatric surgeons in the U.S. “They are attracted there because of deep discounts to have these operations over there,” Dr. Mattar said. “Unfortunately, some of them come back with complications that we have to take care of.” Six days after surgery, Thomas wound up in an emergency room where doctors found she had a hole in her gastric sleeve, and a life-threatening infection. Complications from her surgery have racked up $300,000 in medical bills and forced Thomas to declare bankruptcy.
These 3 People Went to Mexico for Weight-Loss Surgery Now They Regret It
Today
Megyn Kelly interviews three people who have filed suit against Tijuana surgeons and U.S. based medical tourism companies after suffering serious complications from weight loss surgeries they had in Mexico. They all went to Mexico for their operations because bariatric surgery costs almost one third of what it costs in the U.S. Two weeks after her surgery in Mexico, Jessica Ballandby collapsed, her spleen was cut during her operation, her stomach “left wide open,” by the surgeon. “I was a big septic tank,” says Ballandby. Justin Blackburn and Carson Miller both had lap-band surgery in Mexico. They were referred to an aftercare clinic in Arizona by their Mexican surgeon; the nurse who made their lap-band adjustments overfilled their lap-bands, according to both patients. The lawsuits are aimed at the medical tourism agencies who lured them to Mexico for surgery. “You dont know the risk,” Ballandby says, “they dont tell you about it.” Dr. Mattar provided background and context for this segment.
Colorado Teen Among Growing Number Undergoing Bariatric Surgery
CBS – Denver
Story profiles Madi Michaud, a teenager in Colorado who underwent bariatric surgery. With 27 percent of Colorado kids having obesity or overweight, the article states more kids than ever are undergoing bariatric surgery. Michaud, 17, constantly played softball and swam and tried a variety of diets and workouts but still could not lose weight. “I was surfacing 300 pounds,” she said. Bullied because of her weight, Michaud started skipping class to avoid having others see her and eventually she was shamed into switching schools. Michauds mother, Kristen, who also struggled with her weight and had a weight loss surgery, said the decision to get the operation for her daughter was not easy and she was initially shocked that teenagers could get the surgery. Madis surgeon, ASMBS Pediatric Surgery Committee member Dr. Thomas Inge, Director of adolescent bariatric surgery at Childrens Hospital Colorado, said she was the perfect candidate for bariatric surgery because she had morbid obesity and major health problems. According to Dr. Inge, it is incredibly difficult for children with obesity to lose weight and keep it off and the health benefits to children getting bariatric surgery far exceed the benefits adults receive from the surgery.
Weight-Loss Surgery is Associated with a Reduced Risk Of Melanoma, Researchers Say
Los Angeles Times
Bariatric surgery is associated with a 61 percent reduction in the risk of developing malignant melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer, according to new research presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Vienna, Austria. Researchers also found a 42 percent reduced risk of skin cancer in general in people who underwent weight loss surgery. For the study, researchers compared 2,007 Swedish study participants who chose to have surgery as a treatment for obesity with 2,040 participants with obesity who did not have surgery. The researchers said the findings suggest “obesity is a melanoma risk factor and indicates that weight loss in individuals with obesity can reduce the risk of a deadly form of cancer that has increased steadily in many countries over several decades.”
Food Cravings Could Be Cut With Magnetic Brain Stimulation, New Obesity Study Shows
Newsweek
Stimulating the brain with magnetic energy could curb food cravings in people with obesity and may be used as an alternative to invasive surgery or drugs in treating the disease, according to findings presented at the European Society of Endocrinology meeting in Barcelona. Deep Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (dTMS) involves stimulating brain neurons with magnetic energy. Researchers administered dTMS to 40 patients with obesity for 30 minutes, at high or low frequencies and then measured the presence of beta-endorphinsneurotransmitters associated with feelings of reward after food is ingested. High frequency dTMS caused levels of beta-endorphins to rise when compared with low level or no treatment. Dr. Donna Ryan, president-elect of the World Obesity Federation, who wasnt involved in the study, said the findings show that “there are important areas in the brain that regulate hunger and craving for foods [and] is yet more evidence that individuals struggling with excess bodyweight have biological reasons underlying their struggles and that losing weight is not just a matter of will power.”
Obesity in the News
Almost a Quarter of the Worlds Population will be Obese by 2045
MarketWatch
New research presented at the 2018 Congress on Obesity in Vienna, Austria suggests nearly one-quarter (22%) of the people in the world will have obesity by 2045, up from 14 percent in 2017, and one in eight will have type 2 diabetes, up from 9 percent in 2017. Using a World Health Organization database and dividing each countrys population into age groups, the authors suggest that in order to stabilize the rate of global diabetes at 10 percent, obesity rates must fall from the current level of 14 percent to 10 percent by 2045. A separate study published last year in the New England Journal of Medicine estimated that 10 percent of the worlds population currently has obesity, but that the rate of obesity doubled in 73 countries.
Report: Obesity Linked to 12 Types of Cancers, Including Breast and Colorectal
USA Today
A new report from World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) links 12 types of cancers to having overweight or obesity, including breast and colorectal cancer. The ten other cancers cited in the report were: endometrial; gallbladder; kidney; liver; mouth, pharynx and larynx; oesophageal; ovarian; pancreatic; prostrate; stomach. An estimated 1.97 billion adults worldwide and more than 338 million children and teens were considered to have overweight or obesity as of 2016, according to WCRF, which also revealed a series of updated recommendations to help people lower weight and decrease their cancer risk. Those recommendations call for exercise, a healthy diet, limiting consumption of red or processed meats, and cutting back on fast food or other highly processed foods. “Its unlikely that there are ‘magic bullet’ specific foods or nutrients that in themselves cause or protect against cancer,” said Dr. Kate Allen, executive director of science and public affairs at WCRF International, in a blog post. “Rather, different patterns of diet and physical activity combine to create a metabolic state that makes you more or less susceptible to cancer.”
Early Pregnancy Obesity, Overweight Linked to Neurodevelopmental Delay in Offspring
Healio
Children born to women with overweight or obesity during the early stages of pregnancy have an increased risk of neurodevelopmental delays than those born to women with normal weight, according to a study published in the International Journal of Obesity. Researchers analyzed 2,504 mother-child pairs in the Prediction and Prevention of Preeclampsia and Intrauterine Growth Restriction (PREDO) study and found that compared with children of mothers with normal weight, those of mothers with obesity had between 1.81 and 2.74 greater odds of not meeting development milestones in communication, fine motor, gross motor, problem-solving and personal/social skills. Children of mothers with overweight had 2.14 greater odds of not meeting the development of communication skills milestones. Additionally, the odds of developmental delay were higher for children of mothers with preeclampsia and gestational diabetes.