Tag Archives: bariatric surgery

Teen Weight Loss Surgery Patients Face a Harder Road to Results

Bariatric weight loss surgery is on the rise every year in America. Between 200,000 and 250,000 adults receive bariatric surgery annually. A smaller statistic that seems to carry more weight is the fact that about 1,000 American teenagers received some sort of weight loss surgery last year and the number is increasing every day.

The most common types of bariactric procedures are gastric bypass, gastric banding, and sleeve gastrectomy, and all involve surgery which is very risky, especially for teenagers.

While some of the risks for post-op teenagers come from the surgery itself, other risks come from the ability of the patient to follow rules. Since the procedures limit the amount of food one can eat, malnutrition is a very serious threat, made worse for teenagers who are still developing and need those nutrients for proper growth. Because of the risk of malnutrition, most patients are required to be on a strict vitamin regimen for the rest of their lives to ensure the body receives the vital elements it can no longer obtain from food.

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Posted on June 29, 2023 by Lacy

Surgical Weight Loss for Teens Sometimes the Only Option

Kate Setter is a member of the media relations team at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, where she contributes to and manages Change the Outcome (www.cincinnatichildrensblog.org), the hospital’s corporate blog. She most often writes about pediatric public health issues, including obesity, pre term birth and immunization.

Perhaps nothing has been written, talked about or wrestled with more in health care circles the past few years than obesity- and for good reason. Obesity is becoming a national epidemic. The cost to treat its related ailments is approaching $150 billion a year and almost one in three children in the United States is overweight or obese.

Pediatricians across the country, including at Cincinnati Children’s, are doing their best to address overweight and obesity issues with patients and families, but many morbidly obese teenagers are finding themselves out of options to reverse the trajectory of their weight issues.

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Posted on March 20, 2024 by GuestBlogger

Counseling is an Essential Part of Any Weight Loss Surgery

Tennessee’s TennCare may not want to pay for nutritional counseling, but the National Institute of Health requires some psychological counseling prior to any bariatric surgery. This counseling includes a psychological evaluation, often with a standardized objective test, as well as interviews to determine a patient’s preparedness for the life change required by weight loss surgery and information about those changes. One reason behind this requirement is that gastric bypass surgery cannot be reversed. It also requires major behavioral change to be successful; if a patient is not compliant with all behavior changes he or she can become very ill – I have even been told about the possibility of death. These are severe consequences for not following doctors orders implicitly.

Yet, the behavior change required is also severe. As a therapist, I see asking that kind of change from someone as setting them up for failure or disappointment because so much change is extremely stressful and mentally and emotionally taxing. I would caution any of my clients attempting such overnight life change, and counsel them on forgiving themselves when they do not stick to their plan. Eating more than planned one day may be a disappointment for someone committed to weight loss, but it can have devastating effects for someone who has had gastric bypass surgery.

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Posted on February 28, 2024 by Brooke Randolph

Weight Loss Surgery is More Expensive Than You May Think

By Jessie Gorges

Bills are piling up for Barbara Warnock-Morgan. After several years of diets that just didn’t work, she decided to get an adjustable gastric banding in November of 2024.

“I was the fat kid,” she said. “Over the years I yo-yo dieted my way up the scale. I’d lose 20 pounds, then gain back 30.”

Adjustable gastric banding, a form of bariatric surgery in which a silicone band is placed around the top portion of the stomach, costs $15,000 to $30,000. Though the 46-year-old, who lives in Brooklyn, was fortunate to have her insurance cover the costs, she will have to pay for body-contouring cosmetic surgery, also known as a “body lift,” to tighten up the loose skin.

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Posted on January 4, 2024 by Health Buzz

Controversial Kimkins Diet Founder Starts New Diet Site

On the heels of a guilty verdict against the controversial Kimkins Diet founder Heidi Diaz, it’s come to our attention that being investigated for fraud apparently doesn’t get in the way of one’s entrepreneurial spirit.

It appears that the website www.mealperfect.com has been registered by a “Heidi Diaz” and that the site is being hosted on the kimkins.com server. It doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes or Bob Woodward to surmise that, hey, Ms. Diaz is not shying away from what got her in trouble.

What exactly is mealperfect.com? According to Who.is, the website was created in December, 2024. So, in “Internet years,” it’s still a baby- and it shows. Content is fairly thin, particularly in the Success Stories department, where there are a grand total of zero examples of success. This is of particular interest to those of us who have watched the Kimkins drama unfold, since that website was found guilty of falsifying diet success stories. (more…)

Posted on November 2, 2023 by Jason

Slideshow of Oprah’s Most Memorable Weight Loss Stories

For the past 25 years, Oprah Winfrey has been a part a presence in our television rooms every day. While we love many things about the queen of talk show, one of the qualities we related to so easily in her was Oprah’s honest and very tumultuous battle with her own weight. Over the years, we have cheered Oprah on as she lost 40 pounds with the help of Bob Greene and we may have even shed a tear or two as she admitted that she let the wagon fall on her as she regained weight over and over again.

Struggles with food, body image and body weight are as American as apple pie. Throughout Oprah’s 24 seasons, she has introduced us to people whose love of apple pie catapulted into a true food addiction. Oprah not only had first-hand experience of this, but she also saw her own personal story play out in front of thousands of Americans, who wrestled with similar issues and turned to food for the same emotional comfort as she did.  (more…)

Posted on September 20, 2023 by heather

Tune In: Brain Surgery to Cure Obesity

On tonight’s episode of ABC’s Nightline, doctors will attempt to explain how deep brain stimulation, via the installation of electrodes, may be the next cure for obesity.

It sounds like voodoo, and it sounds painful, but for Carol Poe, the surgery was not as bad as spending the rest of her life as an obese woman would have been.

At her heaviest, Poe weighed more than 490 pounds, and she had tried every type of diet, including Atkins and risky Fen-Phen, and had even undergone bariatric surgery in an attempt to shed the pounds. Nothing proved to be successful long term, so Poe elected to become only the second person ever to undergo brain surgery for weight loss. (more…)

Posted on September 7, 2023 by Carmen

hCG Diet Reviewed by FullBar’s Dr. Michael Snyder

Dr. Michael Snyder

With loyal and passionate followers and and concerned naysayers, the hCG diet is one of the most controversial diets on the market today. In order to offer the DietsInReview.com readers with a medical and scientific perspective, we interviewed Dr. Michael Snyder, a weight loss surgeon and the founder of FullBar, to share his medical opinion about the hCG diet.

What is hCG?

hCG is a naturally-occurring hormone. But just because it’s natural, doesn’t mean that it’s safe.

Increased amounts of hCG are part of a common physiological process, such as in the instance of pregnancy, but they are also markers of severe pathological problems as well, such as malignancies.

Does hCG work?

I have seen no indication that ingesting hCG increases your blood level of it. Your body, just like it would digest a piece of chicken, is going to digest hCG and break it down. (more…)

Posted on June 17, 2023 by heather

Weighing in on a New Weight Loss Surgery

We sure do have a confusing relationship with weight and food in our country. On one hand, we herald those who are thin and fit; but then look at the enormous availability of pre-packed, processed food that is ripe and ready for the picking 24 hours a day, seven days a week for anyone living in this country.weight loss surgery

When it comes to those who are overweight or obese, our compassion flies out the window as quickly as we can toss that burger wrapper in a nearby garbage can. As obesity reaches epidemic proportions and weight-related conditions like diabetes and heart disease are starting to be diagnosed in younger and younger people, science has started to redefine and rethink its long-held hypotheses on obesity. Namely, that obesity, just like other inherited diseases, is hereditary. Even though, we still don’t have the grasp on the precise mechanism for how obesity becomes expressed, we do know that a variety of biological, environmental, social and psychological factors come into play that make it easier for one person to become obese and another to stay trim his or her whole life.

From diet pills, to body wraps to hypnosis, we have invented, created and crafted a multitude of measures to shed unwanted pounds. And after psychological and behavioral interventions have been enacted to help someone lose weight, in steps the medical community to take a scientific stab to drop those extra pounds that too many of us carry around.

According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, in cases of severe obesity, treatment through diet and exercise alone fall short of assisting in significant weight loss. One of the ways that medicine has tried to help obese individuals is through surgery.

Gastric bypass surgery is one such popular procedure made famous by Al Roker, Star Jones and about 150,000 additional individuals each year. Recently, other forms of weight loss surgeries, often referred to as bariatric surgery, have also been created. Despite the differences between the styles of procedures, according to the Mayo Clinic, in general, all bariatric procedures alter the anatomy of the digestive system thereby controlling or limited the amount of food that can be eaten and digested.duodenal switch

Even though gastric bypass surgery is the most popular form of weight loss surgery, a new procedure called the Duodenal Switch, or Biliopancreatic Diversion, has been an increasingly popular choice among patients and doctors.

Just like other bariatric procedures, the surgery is not just for anyone who needs to lose a few pounds. In order to qualify for the having the operation performed, you must be at least 100 pounds over their normal weight and have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 40 or more. If you have a BMI between 35 and 40, you must also have weight-related health problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, breathing problems, sleep apnea, high cholesterol or a few other degenerative conditions.

Duodenal Switch surgery is an effective weight-loss surgery that differs from gastric bypass in several ways. Rather than bypassing part of the stomach, about 75 percent of the stomach is removed. This drastic reduction in stomach size greatly limits the amount of food a person can eat in one setting. The small intestine is also shrunk so that the amount of fat and calories that are absorbed from food is greatly reduced.

Like any bariatric surgery, the surgery itself is just one element. It is by no means a cake-walk to a svelte self. Following surgery, blood clotting, hair loss, and loose stools are all common side effects. Individuals with Duodenal Switch surgery must follow a high-protein diet and lifelong vitamin and mineral supplementation to prevent nutrient deficiency.

For many who have had success with this surgery, they have learned to appropriately manage these potential consequences. And the benefits of losing weight, even if it means a drastic change in how and what a person eats, make it worth it.

Even though insurance companies are beginning to cover more and more weight-loss surgeries, many insurance companies still consider the Duodenal Switch procedure to be experimental and may therefore offer no monetary assistance toward it. If you are curious about it, talk to your primary care physician first and then inquire with your health insurance company.

Posted on July 14, 2023 by heather

Guest Blog: My Bariatric Surgery Success Story

This week we welcome Sean Amore as our guest blogger. Sean, weighing 483 pounds at the time, had gastric bypass surgery in March 2024. Having lost half of his body weight since, Sean continues his weight journey while living with his wife and daughter in Wichita, Kansas and working in public relations – writing about all of the above, and more, on his own blog, My Journey.

Sixteen months after gastric bypass surgery at Danbury Hospital in Danbury, Connecticut, I’ve lost 240 pounds.

sean amore bariatric surgery sean amore bariatric surgery

I would credit my surgery for helping to change my life but I go out of my way on my blog and when I speak with people about my gastric bypass journey to make it clear that the surgery is not itself a silver bullet and is not a guarantee of weight loss or long term success. Statistically, the impacts of surgery only last about eighteen months. The rest, as they say, is up to “you.”

The short-term impact reality of surgery has left many people skeptical of gastric bypass. The lore of the procedure is that you wake up with a ping-pong ball sized pouch and are healed of all that ever ailed you when it came to food and diet. Life after gastric bypass is no different than life before. You have to stay vigilant to the diet, you have to exercise and you have to decouple and your emotions or you will not succeed.

I’ve spent the last two years working on my diet, my physical health and fitness, my mental health and fitness, trying to identify and master the emotional triggers that always drove me to food and trying to make myself a better overall person. I was only in surgery for four hours.

I believe three things will make all the difference in my long-term success:

Family and Friends – I have a great support system. My wife and daughter loved me at 500+ pounds and they love me today. My family and friends still cheer for me. I am looked out for and respected, no matter what. To have that security drives me to make “good” in return after years of not being the man I am becoming.

Diet – I have three simple rules 1 – Low fat, high protein. 2 – Low-to-no sugar (even “allowed” sugars). 3 – Every calorie counts so count every calorie. I made changes before surgery (stopped eating and drinking at the same time, reduced portions, counted calories, etc.) so that, by the time I returned to “real foods” after surgery, I was ready for my food reality. I still count every calorie every day and have found lots of help in blogs, and cookbooks, too.

Professional Support – I enrolled in a formal, medical program for my surgery. Nutritionists, blood work, stress tests, mental evaluations and counseling, mandatory pre-surgery weight loss, support groups, physical trainers and medical professionals who really understood obesity medicine, etc. I had six months of it before surgery and six months after (with ongoing visits for the rest of my life). If you look at the statistics –patients to just have the surgery with no real prep or follow up are often less successful with the surgery.

Simple diets or drastic gastric-bypass surgery, it is nearly impossible to have long-term, meaningful weight loss and improvement of quality of life without a true commitment to a life of changes.

Posted on July 11, 2023 by Natalie K

Bariatric Surgery and its health benefits


With obesity being the number one public health problem facing Americans today, finding long-term solutions that reduce the harmful effects of this growing epidemic. On the 4/20/08 episode of 60 Minutes, Lesley Stahl reported on the surprising healthy effects that having weight loss surgery is having on many patients. When the surgery is performed and the individual adheres to the post-operative dietary and exercise guidelines, reductions in hypertension, coronary artery disease, Type II diabetes are seen as well as reduced risk for certain cancers like breast, colon, endometrial cancers. Obviously, bariatric surgery is not just about losing pounds. These new findings are also broadening the medical community’s knowledge of the complex interplay between obesity and these other health conditions.

Posted on April 21, 2024 by heather