18th Jun, 2021
Diet and exercise are enough when you do them right—or so we are told. Just mind your diet and exercise, right? This is something we've heard since childhood. And how could such straightforward, commonsense advice possibly be wrong? Unfortunately, it's the wrong strategy for treating obesity. Here's why the medical management of obesity isn't nearly enough. Widespread Environmental Changes Let us start by acknowledging that the… Read more »
11th Jun, 2021
In a new series, we're debunking persistent myths of weight loss surgery. Is it true that weight-loss surgery will leave you with terrible scars? It's a common misconception, but it's not true. Today, minimally invasive surgery or laparoscopic surgery normally creates four or five small incisions ranging from 5 to 20 mm in length. For most people, the scars fade with time and become very… Read more »
4th Jun, 2021
After metabolic surgery, people report far less hunger and a greater sense of fullness or satisfaction after less food. But how does this occur? It turns out that hunger and fullness are both a lot more complicated than researchers once thought. Some of us feel hungry almost every minute of every waking day, while others only feel their hunger stir with external cues such as… Read more »
28th May, 2021
For teenagers with severe obesity, is metabolic surgery an option now or should it wait until they reach adulthood? What are the risks, and what are the advantages? These challenging questions have been considered by both parents and doctors for many years, and some of the recommendations may surprise you. Obesity in Teenagers Let us start with recognizing the problem. An alarming number of children… Read more »
7th May, 2021
All too often, people wait far too long to move forward with treating their health. This is especially true for weight loss surgery. I cannot tell you how many times I see people in the office who come to see me once something dreadful has already occurred. Common examples are that an individual has taken a fall, suffered a severe injury to a hip or… Read more »
16th Apr, 2021
In a recent study from the excellent research team at The Cleveland Clinic, investigators reported the results of obese individuals who acquired COVID-19. They compared two matched groups among a total of 363 COVID-19 patients: one group with obesity and one group with prior morbid obesity but having had weight-loss surgery. The findings were significant. No weight-loss surgery patient required the ICU, mechanical ventilation, or dialysis,… Read more »
26th Mar, 2021
For Dr. Sasse's patient Evangelina, metabolic surgery was about more than improving her physical health. It was about changing her mental health too. "I felt that my esteem sunk below zero. I was so embarrassed to show up to functions no matter how many nice outfits I had to wear," she says. "There was no hiding my obesity." Making the Decision At 56 years of… Read more »
5th Mar, 2021
As we know, obesity increases the risks of many serious adverse health conditions, including many types of cancer. A 2020 study reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association Dermatology evaluated more than 4,000 individuals over a 20-year time frame and found that skin cancer, including malignant melanoma, occurred far less often among those individuals treated with metabolic surgery. As the authors write, “These… Read more »
26th Feb, 2021
Major weight loss is a great thing. Studies from around the world continue to emphasize that excess body weight is bad for our health and bad for our quality of life, so losing weight is the top priority. Most people feel better, live longer, and enjoy life more after major weight loss. But that does not mean there are not some side effects. If you're… Read more »
19th Feb, 2021
Surprises are only nice in certain situations and usually not in situations like surgery or health care. Far better to have clear expectations for what will happen after weight-loss surgery from the moment you wake up until the one-year anniversary and beyond. Guidelines & Clarification We do our best to provide good guidelines and the range of potential expectations after surgery to every person who… Read more »