Blog
19th Feb, 2020
Bladder leakage is one of the most common problems among Americans over the age of 40. For some, it is related to pregnancy or prostate problems and can be considered a minor nuisance. But for others, bladder leakage is embarrassing and disruptive to daily life. Bowel leakage can occur for many of the same reasons — past pregnancy, aging, pelvic radiation, surgery, spinal injury, and nerve… Read more »
31st Jan, 2020
Most people lose a large amount of weight and keep it off long term, but a significant number of people will regain weight in the years after metabolic surgery. Others will simply not lose adequate amounts of weight or not completely reverse their type 2 diabetes, often due to genetic factors, or simply because of starting at a very high BMI. Today, there are excellent… Read more »
6th Dec, 2019
Obesity adversely affects brain function, but the effect of bariatric surgery on cognitive function had not been rigorously evaluated. A recent JAMA study assessed metabolic parameters and cognitive function in obese patients before and after bariatric surgery. And the results are striking: significant improvement in cognitive function as measured by both the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) 6 months after… Read more »
21st Nov, 2019
To date, there have been 12 RCTs comparing metabolic surgery to intensive medical management. We have highlighted a couple of those studies including the STAMPEDE trial from the Cleveland Clinic in prior newsletters, but this month gives a broader perspective and the Position Statement of International Diabetes Organizations on the role of metabolic surgery. Below is depicted the profound effect of metabolic surgery in… Read more »
24th Oct, 2019
In the recent 2019 paper published in JAMA, authors from the Cleveland Clinic reported on the care of over 13,000 individuals with type 2 diabetes. And similar to prior randomized controlled trials, and other large matched cohort studies, this carefully designed matched cohort study of diabetes care found large reductions in stoke, heart attack, mortality, and renal failure among patient undergoing metabolic surgery compared to… Read more »
26th Sep, 2019
A look at the published results of the LOOK-AHEAD Trial. The NIH-sponsored LookAhead trial was a randomized controlled trial involving 5,145 individuals comparing an Intensive Lifestyle Intervention (ILI) to a Diabetes Support and Education (DSE) in overweight and obese type 2 diabetes patients to track the development of cardiovascular disease over time. The trial intervention, at a cost of $15 million was stopped for futility… Read more »
29th Aug, 2019
It is now widely known that metabolic surgery provides a profound reduction in type 2 diabetes metrics among obese individuals, with durable published remissions in a high percentage of patients beyond 10 years. Metabolic surgery reverses the type 2 diabetes completely in the first year in most obese individuals, and surgery induces a profound survival advantage, as well as dramatic reductions in blindness, kidney failure… Read more »
26th Jul, 2019
Obese individuals suffer an increased risk of cancer, and an increase in cancer mortality compared to non-obese Americans. Now a large population-based study confirms that cancer incidence drops dramatically after metabolic surgery. Numerous cohort studies have shown metabolic surgery decreases cancer risk. A previous large-scale prospectively matched 10-year surgical intervention trial identified that patients undergoing bariatric surgery had a significantly reduced risk of developing cancer… Read more »
25th Jun, 2019
It turns out that if you are under a non-surgical, medical management program for obesity, you are more than 7 times as likely to develop type 2 diabetes in the coming 7 years than if you were to undergo metabolic surgery. Similar rates of new-onset hypertension and hyperlipidemia occur, as reported in a recent paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association by Norwegian… Read more »
1st May, 2019
Obesity causes pain. A disproportionate number of people with obesity take opioids, and a disproportionate number of obese individuals undergo failed spine surgery. For some, it is a cycle of pain, opioids, depression, surgery, and worsened pain. Researchers asked if metabolic surgery resulted in a significant reduction in chronic pain. Not surprisingly, it did. Here's why weight loss may be the most effective therapy for chronic pain.… Read more »