Surgery last-resort treatment for extreme obesity

Business Correspondent

Look down at your stomach. When an increasing number of U.S. citizens do

that, they see “dunlop disease” – the belly has “done lopped” over the belt.

SPONSORED CONTENT

Exploring & expressing grief

Support groups and events, as well as creative therapies and professional counseling, are all ways in which Pathways supports individuals dealing with grief and loss.

For those who can’t stomach dieting or exercise there is an option: the

“s-word.”

For very obese people who can’t or will not curb their eating habits or stick

with exercise, surgery is coming to the rescue. Drastic times call for drastic measures.

The procedure, called gastric bypass, reduces the size of the stomach from

a quart to about five tablespoons. The tiny belly fills up quickly, and the eater pushes away from the table after a few bites. The remaining equation is simple: Less food equals fewer calories. Weight

can drop by 100 pounds or more.

Debbie Miller, a physician’s assistant at the Clinical Nutrition Center in

Denver, said that generally, when the risks of being overweight begin to outweigh

not having the surgery, people should consider a gastric bypass.

“Obesity has many problems associated with it: diabetes, joint problems, all

kinds of things that need to be addressed,” she said.

In 25 years of operation, however, Miller said the Clinical Nutrition Center

has never referred anyone for the surgery. In fact, it’s difficult to find Colorado physicians who offer the procedure.

Boulder Community Hospital, Avista Adventist in Louisville and Longmont United Hospital don’t offer it, employees said. Although Dr. Frank Chae of the University of Colorado Hospital in Denver does perform it, several calls to his office were not returned. Further north, Northern

Colorado Surgical Associates also handle the procedure.

“There are really only a handful of doctors in Colorado who do the

surgery,´ said Jennifer Amidon, surgery coordinator for Northern Colorado

Surgical Associates. That may explain why the doctor Amidon works with is so

busy. His name is Dr. Merlin G. Otteman, and he performs about six bariatric

surgeries a week. Two other doctors there are beginning to do the surgery as well, Amidon said.

“Most of our patients are from Colorado, but we do get some from Wyoming,

Kansas and Nebraska, too,” Amidon said.

Those who opt for the surgery will pay about $20,000 to $22,000, according to

Amidon. But about 90 percent of time, insurance covers costs, Amidon said.

Amidon said doctors usually recommend it as a last resort, and it’s

usually reserved for those who are at least 100 pounds overweight.

“That’s what the insurance companies generally require,´ said Amidon.

Besides getting a new wardrobe, patients also resolve many serious

weight-related health problems. Diabetes, common in overweight people, can lead to blindness, nerve degeneration and death. But the disease is often cured by a gastric bypass.

East Carolina University researchers report that 83 percent of their

obese diabetic patients no longer needed daily insulin shots after the

procedure. And 98 percent of those with sugar-control problems, but not

full-blown diabetes, regained normal blood-sugar levels.

Other benefits include improved heart function, improved mobility, stronger

stamina, better moods and higher self-esteem. Interpersonal effectiveness and

marital satisfaction increases, but only if the marriage was on solid footing before

surgery. If marital discord exists preoperatively, the improved self-image

may lead to divorce.

Other research has found that a gastric bypass can stop high pressure in the

fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord, a potentially fatal problem that

may be related to obesity. At the Medical College of Virginia, cerebrospinal fluid pressure dropped 50 percent in eight women with the problem who had the operation. The surgery relieved symptoms such as headaches and ringing in the ears, and improved obesity-related urinary incontinence.