At INTEGRIS Total Body Surgical Cosmetic Surgery we are a dedicated Lap Band facility. This means that we have chosen to only offer the lap band for our patients who have failed diets and are at risk for developing complications of obesity.
Obesity in America is at epidemic proportions. Look at this from the CDC
Literally every state has an issue with people being over weight and in many states.....severely. All we need do is walk down the street to see how bad it is. The question is what to do about it?? This question deals with numerous issues that are difficult to quantify. We are victims of our own prosperity and it is rapidly spreading around the globe. We now have readily available food. Our activity levels continue to decline. The food is processed in ways that may be detrimental to our bodies. Bad habits are passed on to our children and this is perpetuating the problem. Obesity is becoming an issue globally. Many will say "so what", I am fat and hurting nobody, why should you care?? What we see is the rising cost of the care that is required as we get older and fatter. When people are young, their bodies can compensate for their weight by producing more muscle to haul the excess weight around. They can produce more insulin so blood sugars don't rise. Young hearts can beat more efficiently to send oxygen to the excess. BUT, as we age, our skeleton is not capable of carrying all the excess and begins to fail. Our pancreas cannot keep up and the fat causes insulin resistance. Arteries become clogged with fat causing atherosclerosis, starving the heart, losing efficiency. We then have joint breakdown, hypertension, coronary disease, adult onset (type II Diabetes), and the inability to increase activity. These chronic problems are an expensive drain on the medical system and it effects all of us. Not to mention all of the man and woman power we lose as a nation.
Diet and exercise of course is the way to combat the problem in the ideal world, however, this is not always a realistic solution. Sometimes alternative methods are required. Medical supervision is the next step using supervised diets and in some instances, medication to curb appetite. When all of these methods fail, the next step may be a surgical alternative.
There are many surgical procedures available for weight loss today and I will talk about the main ones briefly. First of all, who qualifies for weight loss surgery? Obesity is measured by body mass index or BMI. Though not perfect, it is a way to measure a persons weight and index it for height giving us a number to use to gauge a persons weight. To calculate your BMI, use the calculator on this site
http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/
New FDA guidelines consider a BMI above thirty to be of concern.
They consider a BMI over 40 to be morbidly obese.
The three most commonly performed surgeries for obesity today are the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, the gastric sleeve, and the Lap Band. The Roux-en-Y is a good procedure for those who are very heavy, with diabetes, and need to lose weight quickly. This bypass is good for more rapid wight loss and is better for controlling blood sugar. This procedure is both restrictive (making a smaller stomach) and causes some diminished absorption.
The Gastric sleeve also causes more rapid weight loss. It is restrictive by making the stomach smaller but does not have as many absorption issues.
Both of the larger surgical procedures have a short and long term complication rate. .19% death rate and a complication rate of between 5 and 10 percent for the gastric sleeve. For the gastric bypass the death rate is somewhere between .2 and .5 % with complication rates being 10-15% short and long term. For the lap band, the death rate is .09% and the short and long term complication rate is 1-3%.
Next week we will focus on lap band surgery, how it's done and what you can expect...we'll have video too!!
Remember our Breast and Hair removal offers and get ready for the introductory offer on the Lap band!!!!
Very exciting!!