Archive for May, 2009
Wednesday, May 27th, 2009
“Clean your plate!” We all grew up hearing it, and I think this phrase is largely responsible for our growing obesity problem. We should be teaching our children to eat until they are no longer hungry, then stop. If the alpha wolf or king lion ate until all the food was gone, the pups and cubs would starve. But as humans we have conquered our environment so these laws of nature no longer apply and we now clean our plates so all the food is gone.
Part of the lifestyle change required for our patients to be successful is to eliminate those thoughts we learned during our upbringing that make us feel guilty or wasteful if we leave any food on our plates. By limiting food intake, patients that have undergone weight loss surgery realize that it is OK to leave food on their plate. Here at the Gastric Band Institute, our psychotherapist, Rachel, and our dietitian, Prudence, can also help with their Mindful Eating classes. For more information on when these classes are taught, please call 702-384-8446.
Please share here the infamous lines and techniques your parents used to coax you to eat. I bet this sounds familiar: “Just three more bites!”
– Dr. Darren Soong
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Tags: Bariatric Surgeons, Dr. Darren Soong, Ethicon Realize band, Gastric Band, Gastric Band Institute of Las Vegas, Gastric bypass, lap band, lap band surgery, Las Vegas Weight Loss Doctors, Weight Loss Surgeons, Weight Loss Surgery
Posted in Bariatric Surgeons, Eating, Gastric Band, Gastric Sleeve, Gastric bypass, Las Vegas Weight Loss Surgeons, Realize Band, Weight Loss Support, lap band |
Tuesday, May 19th, 2009
Because the Gastric Band Institute has overseen the surgical weight loss of several thousand patients to date, I’ve been able to observe unique patterns common to very successful patients as well as those patterns common to less successful patients. This information may be helpful to potential patients trying to decide if a surgical weight loss procedure is right for them.
Patients struggling with their weight loss tend to look at their gastric band as something which should physically stop them from eating that one extra bite. They tend to “challenge” their operation, sometimes almost to prove that they can eat past their latest adjustment. As a result, they get food stuck more frequently and tend to have their bands tighter and have more problems with reflux.
The successful patients tend to look at their band as a tool which helps them stop themselves from eating more than is necessary to satisfy their hunger. They stop well before the last bite, they have more “eating margin” as described in a previous blog, have less reflux and don’t need to have their bands adjusted as tight. If you have questions about how to utilize the band for weight loss properly, please leave me a comment and I will reply, or contact Brian or Melissa, our physician assistants, at 702-384-8446. Also, if you have any advice or testimonials of how eating with the band correctly has made your weight loss successful, please tell us about it.
– Dr. Darren Soong
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Tags: Allergan lap band, Bariatric Surgeons, Dr. Darren Soong, Ethicon Realize band, Gastric Band, Gastric Band Institute of Las Vegas, lap band, lap band surgery, Las Vegas Weight Loss Doctors, Weight Loss Surgeons, Weight Loss Surgery
Posted in Bariatric Surgeons, Eating, Gastric Band, Gastric Sleeve, Las Vegas Weight Loss Surgeons, Realize Band, lap band |
Wednesday, May 13th, 2009
A common question potential patients have is “How much loose skin will I have after I lose weight?” Most consider some loose skin a good trade-off for better health and a lower body mass index (BMI). How much loose skin a patient will have depends on several variables:
- Age. Younger patients have a higher percentage of collagen in their skin and tend to have less loose skin after weight loss than older patients.
- Fat distribution. Patients whose fat areas are evenly distributed tend not to have one problem area. Those who have a larger percentage of their fat stored in one area may be more likely to have a problem in that area.
- Rate of weight loss. Band patients, who typically lose weight at a slower pace than bypass patients, may have an advantage in this area, especially if they exercise during the process.
- Amount of weight lost. For most of our patients with a BMI within the range of 35-50 lose about 60-120 lbs., loose skin is not a major problem. For those who lose much more than this it may become an issue.
Lasers and fat dissolving clinics are gimmicks and work very poorly for this. Although only about 5% of our patients are bothered enough by their loose skin to have plastic surgery to remove it, surgical excision is still the best option. If the plastic surgeon you choose is not familiar with how to handle the band port during a tummy tuck, they will usually call me, Dr. Atkinson, or Brian, our Physician Assistant and Program Director, before the procedure to discuss this. Because our program is the most successful surgical weight loss program in Las Vegas, some of the local plastic surgeons have created special discounted rates exclusively for our patients. We also have some Las Vegas plastic surgeons periodically give seminars to our patients to educate them on their options. Contact Denise, our Practice Manager, at 702-384-8446, for more info on this topic.
– Dr. Darren Soong
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Tags: Add new tag, Bariatric Surgeons, Gastric Band, Gastric bypass, Las Vegas Weight Loss Doctors, Plastic Surgery, Weight Loss Surgeons, Weight Loss Surgery
Posted in Bariatric Surgeons, Gastric Band, Gastric Sleeve, Gastric bypass, Las Vegas Weight Loss Surgeons, Plastic Surgery, Realize Band |
Monday, May 11th, 2009
The U.S Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality recently reported a 21% decline in obesity surgery related complications between 2001 and 2006. This was despite the fact that more older and more sick patients were electing to have surgery compared to previous years. Insurance companies also paid less to hospitals, 13%, because of the decrease in the number of complications. Hopefully, this report will lead to more insurance companies offering obesity surgery as a benefit for their patients and increasing the access of patients to these life-changing procedures.
The reasons for the decrease in complications were:
- increased use of laparoscopy and minimally invasive surgical techniques
- increased number of gastric band procedures
- decreased number of gastric bypass procedures
- increased surgeon experience
For more info, go to
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/hscout/2009/04/29/hscout626473.html
– Dr. Darren Soong
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Tags: Add new tag, Allergan lap band, Bariatric Surgeons, Ethicon Realize band, Gastric Band, Gastric bypass, Las Vegas Weight Loss Doctors, Weight Loss Surgeons, Weight Loss Surgery
Posted in Bariatric Surgeons, Gastric Band, Gastric Sleeve, Gastric bypass, Las Vegas Weight Loss Surgeons, Realize Band, Weight Loss Support |
Thursday, May 7th, 2009
Incredibly, if you do a Google search for Hydroxycut weight loss/fat burning products, lawyers are already advertising for patients who suffered liver failure or complications after taking this weight loss supplement. The FDA recently announced the recall of Hydroxycut products and recommends that if you use these products you immediately terminate use.
See http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2009/NEW02006.html. Hydroxycut has been attributed to at least one death in a 19-year-old due to liver failure. This just underscores that all chemical dietary aids are and should be used only as temporary weight loss treatment and should be used with caution. I do not advocate for the use of such weight loss products and I teach all my patients that behavior and lifestyle changes are the key factors to long-term weight loss success.
– Dr. Darren Soong
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Tags: Allergan lap band, Bariatric Surgeons, Gastric Band, Gastric bypass, Las Vegas Weight Loss Doctors, Weight Loss Surgeons, Weight Loss Surgery
Posted in Bariatric Surgeons, Gastric Band, Gastric Sleeve, Gastric bypass, Las Vegas Weight Loss Surgeons |
Tuesday, May 5th, 2009
The recent appearance of actress Kirstie Alley on Oprah underscores the biggest problem with conventional weight loss programs like Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers. Even the few who are disciplined enough to strictly adhere to the program and lose a large percentage of their excess body weight, typically gain it back within the first several years. If your BMI is more than 35, the failure rate of nonsurgical weight loss programs is 95%. Ask yourself how many have you failed? ALL of our patients have tried these diet programs multiple times prior to deciding to have a surgical weight loss procedure and our program performed over 1,400 new procedures last year alone.
It’s newsworthy when a paid celebrity weight loss spokesperson like Kirstie Alley or Oprah regain their weight because it emphasizes just how difficult it is in our society to lose weight and keep it off, even if you are being paid to do it. The reason those who undergo surgery experience much more success is because weight loss procedures create literal “restriction” that limit calorie intake and control hunger. It’s a lifestyle change that one makes for the long haul, not a temporary change in eating habits. Such temporary changes only lead to temporary results, if at all.
To learn more, call our office at 702-384-8446 and reserve a spot at one of our free educational seminars.
– Dr. Darren Soong
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Tags: Allergan lap band, Bariatric Surgeons, Ethicon Realize band, Gastric Band, Gastric bypass, Las Vegas Weight Loss Doctors, Weight Loss Surgeons, Weight Loss Surgery
Posted in Bariatric Surgeons, Gastric Band, Gastric Sleeve, Gastric bypass, Las Vegas Weight Loss Surgeons, Realize Band |
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