Posts Tagged ‘bariatric surgery’

It’s just a week away: ObesityWeek 2018 in Nashville. Some of the brightest minds and most interesting people working on obesity will all be in one place. So grab the OW2018 app and plan ahead. It will come and go in a flash. Here are a few things to look for. We’re calling it a […]

Getting a handle on the real world effectiveness of any medical treatment is devilishly hard. For surgery, it’s even harder. Randomized controlled trials are not impossible, but almost. And many variables come into play that can cause big swings in effectiveness. That list starts with surgical skill and the quality of a program. And it […]

Would it surprise you to find that only four in a thousand children with leukemia have access to comprehensive cancer care? Of course it would. A total of 98 pediatric cancer centers show up on the U.S. News list of the best hospitals for pediatric cancer. But the story is very different for youth with […]

Yesterday, JAMA published five articles about bariatric surgery. Two new research papers. Three editorials. Taken together they present a picture of the compelling benefits of bariatric surgery in patients with both obesity and diabetes. But they also point to the gap between the reality of bariatric surgery and how we’re dealing with it. Cutting the […]

My struggle with weight began in my early teens. That was when my doctor prescribed  a birth control medicine to treat dysmenorrhea. But I didn’t know it would cause massive weight gain and hormone fluctuations. I’ve had to work at overcoming obesity every day of my life since then. One of the hardest things about […]

In 2017, about 1.4 million Americans left the U.S. to obtain medical care. And that number will grow by double digits this year. The reasons are many, but mostly it comes down to money. And a significant number of people are traveling for bariatric surgery. A Shameful History of Discrimination Health plans have long history […]

At the Obesity Medicine Association (OMA) meeting in Washington, DC, it’s becoming visible. Medical and surgical obesity care have sometimes existed in completely separate spheres. But these two distinct spheres are growing closer together. For the sake of better patient care, we see a trend toward integrating medical and surgical obesity care. We can see […]

Yesterday, we had the privilege of participating in a remarkable forum in San Francisco. The Pacific Business Group on Health (PBGH) assembled a diverse group of experts and employers. Together, we considered how healthcare addresses obesity. We gained a view of how employers can innovate on obesity care. Obesity Might Break the System For a […]

A striking pair of papers in JAMA Surgery offers powerful food for thought about bariatric surgery. The first is a systematic review of how safe and effective it is for Medicare patients. The second is a commentary from well-respected health policy researchers. After reading these papers, we see a huge huge gap. On one hand, we have […]

Growing up, I was the definition of meek. I also carried more weight on my frame and towered above my peers. Despite this, I was a good friend to my fellow elementary schoolers. However, In addition to my timid yet friendly nature, I was also painfully aware of my obesity from a young age, which affected […]