3 great articles on benefits of WLS

There are three really important articles in JAMA (the Journal of the American Medical Association) on the risks and long-term benefits of bariatric surgery.

Now be aware, they are aimed at physicians, so your doctors will be reading them. And they are written at that level of knowledge, obviously.

But you should also have a look -  if you are pre-op particularly.

 

The really important stats are

• long-term permanent weight loss
• long-term ancillary health outcomes
• risk of death or complications with various surgeries

and those numbers can be found in the editorial, which is more concise than the studies.

Here's where to find the articles - they are currently open-access (usually subscribed)

http://jama.jamanetwork.com/onlineFirst.aspx

  Editorial | November 04, 2013  FREE New Insights on Bariatric Surgery Outcomes PDF Sayeed Ikramuddin, MD; Edward H. Livingston, MD   Type 2 diabetes is an unremitting epidemic associated with increased cardiovascular mortality. Type 2 diabetes is strongly linked to obesity and the mainstay of therapy is weight loss. Topics: bariatric surgery weight reduction JAMA. JAMA. Published online November 04, 2013. doi:10.1001/jama.2013.280927     Research Letter | November 04, 2013  FREE Validity of Self-reported Weights Following Bariatric Surgery PDF Nicholas J. Christian, PhD; Wendy C. King, PhD; Susan Z. Yanovski, MD; Anita P. Courcoulas, MD, MPH; Steven H. Belle, PhD, MScHyg   Obtaining standardized weights in long-term studies can be difficult. Self-reported weights are more easily obtained but are less accurate than those from a calibrated scale and may be inaccurately reported. Previous studies have reported that women tend to underreport their weight more than men with the degree of misreporting related ... Topics: bariatric surgery JAMA. JAMA. Published online November 04, 2013. doi:10.1001/jama.2013.281043     Original Investigation | November 04, 2013  FREE Weight Change and Health Outcomes at 3 Years After Bariatric Surgery Among Individuals With Severe Obesity PDF Anita P. Courcoulas, MD, MPH; Nicholas J. Christian, PhD; Steven H. Belle, PhD, MScHyg; Paul D. Berk, MD; David R. Flum, MD, MPH; Luis Garcia, MD; Mary Horlick, MD; Melissa A. Kalarchian, PhD; Wendy C. King, PhD; James E. Mitchell, MD; Emma J. Patterson, MD; John R. Pender, MD; Alfons Pomp, MD; Walter J. Pories, MD; Richard C. Thirlby, MD; Susan Z. Yanovski, MD; Bruce M. Wolfe, MD; for the Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery (LABS) Consortium  

Importance  Severe obesity (body mass index [BMI] ≥35) is associated with a broad range of health risks. Bariatric surgery induces weight loss and short-term health improvements, but little is known about long-term outcomes of these operations.

Objective  To report 3-year change in weight and select health ...

Topics: body weight changes obesity, morbid bariatric surgery laboratory test finding health outcomes JAMA. JAMA. Published online November 04, 2013. doi:10.1001/jama.2013.280928     Viewpoint | November 04, 2013  FREE The Merits of Subtyping Obesity:  One Size Does Not Fit All PDF Alison E. Field, ScD; Carlos A. Camargo Jr, MD, DrPH; Shuji Ogino, MD, PhD

 

Thank you!  Will definitely take a look!

 

DD