Archive for April, 2010
Wednesday, April 28th, 2010
 Photo from www.watoday.com
A new study found that patients who have lost weight after bariatric surgery breathe easier and take 50 percent fewer prescription breathing medications. The study was published in the April issue of Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology
Researchers reviewed the medical records of 320 patients for one year before and after they had bariatric surgery at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. The patients filled a total of 324 prescriptions for breathing medications in the year before surgery, and 154 prescriptions in the year after surgery.
We have seen many Gastric Band Institute patients struggle with asthma and other breathing problems prior to weight loss surgery. A great deal of these patients experience a reduction or total elimination of breathing issues after successfully losing and keeping off weight. This not only improves their quality of life, but also cuts down on prescription costs. This is just one of several ailments that we see patients cured of after they undergo gastric band surgery.
– Dr. Darren Soong
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Posted in Category1 |
Wednesday, April 21st, 2010
In the past few months, more insurance companies have begun adding the Sleeve Gastrectomy as a primary surgical weight loss procedure in addition to the gastric band and gastric bypass. Sleeve Gastrectomy, also known as the Gastric Sleeve, was specifically designed for weight loss and is a purely restrictive procedure. The restriction is created by surgically decreasing the size of the stomach by about 80-85%. United Healthcare, Aetna, and Health Plan of Nevada now allow their covered members to choose Sleeve Gastrectomy, making the procedure more available to patients. I expect that other insurance companies will soon follow suit.
In our practice, we see patients who previously would have chosen gastric bypass now opting for the sleeve because of the lower metabolic and surgical complications. Patients with needle phobia, for whom band adjustments would be very stressful, have also successfully undergone Sleeve Gastrectomy and a few band patients who had chronic problems with their bands have been successfully converted to the sleeve procedure. The gastric band will likely remain the most popular surgical weight loss procedure because it remains the least invasive and most easily reversible, but now that insurance companies are approving the Sleeve Gastrectomy as well, our patients have even more options and flexibility with their decisions.
To learn more, sign up to attend one of our free informational seminars. You can also learn more about the Gastric Sleeve by reading a previous blog I posted on the procedure.
– Dr. Darren Soong
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Friday, April 9th, 2010
 Photo from www.thedailygreen.com
In support group meetings the experienced band patients frequently tell the newer patients to drink more water and that water is their new “best friend.” Here are some interesting facts about water that I recently came across:
- About 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated and don’t drink enough water.
- Even mild dehydration will slow down a person’s metabolism by about 3%.
- About 37% of Americans have a weak thirst mechanism and mistake thirst for hunger pangs. Interestingly, this is also about the percentage of obesity.
- A University of Washington study found that on dieters, one full glass of water shut down night hunger pangs on nearly 100% of study participants.
The average person should be drinking at least 8 glasses (8 oz.) of water each day. Of course this amount should be increased with physical activity, hot weather, illness or pregnancy, or any other factor that can increase dehydration. An extra 1 ½ to 2 ½ cups of water should be enough for short bouts of exercise, but intense exercise lasting more than an hour requires more water intake.
– Dr. Darren Soong
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Tags: bariatric patient, Bariatric Surgeons, Dr. Darren Soong, Gastric Band, Gastric Band Institute of Las Vegas, Gastric bypass, lap band, lap band surgery, Las Vegas Weight Loss Doctors, water intake, Weight Loss Support Groups, Weight Loss Surgeons, Weight Loss Surgery
Posted in Bariatric Surgeons, Eating, Gastric Band, Gastric Sleeve, Gastric bypass, Las Vegas Weight Loss Surgeons, Nutrition, Weight Loss Support, Weight Loss Surgery, lap band |
Monday, April 5th, 2010
I read an interesting article last week while on vacation in Hawaii that stated that researchers in Germany have found that eating slower leads to a greater feeling of satiation or fullness versus eating the same amount faster. They believe that endorphins released when eating fast stunts the satiation feeling so people end up eating more. When we eat slowly, we are better able to recognize the signal in our brain that tells us we no longer need to keep eating.
We always tell our lap band patients to eat slower, mainly so that they mechanically do not get food stuck, but this is yet another reason for everyone trying to lose weight to learn to eat slowly.
– Dr. Darren Soong
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Tags: bariatric patient, Bariatric Surgeons, Dr. Darren Soong, 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, Las Vegas Weight Loss Surgeons, Nutrition, Weight Loss Support, Weight Loss Surgery, lap band |
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