The Moment is Now...

What’s the Truth?

Studies have shown that diet and exercise alone may not work for the severely obese.i,ii After just five years, diet, exercise and behavior modification alone failed 95% of the time; in fact, studies have shown that people regain as much as two-thirds of the weight they lost within one year and almost all of it within five years.iii,iv Those who are more than 100 pounds overweight often end up cycling through various diet programs, only to re-gain the weight they lost and feel more discouraged that they can not beat their battle with obesity.

So, what is the truth about obesity?

Diet and exercise programs rarely work.Why is belly fat unique? Belly fat is the fat storednear your stomach for easy access by your body and is thought to be the most dangerous at you can carry because of its proximity to your organs, increasing the risk of serious health consequences related to being overweight.v And belly fat works against you as you try to lose weight, because it interferes with your ability to regulate how much food you eat, how much energy you store, and how much fat and sugar your body uses.vi This means that the struggles millions of people face with obesity could actually be a result of the science in their own bodies, and not the failure to comply with diets or weight-loss programs.

Why Take Action Now?

Most people know that obesity is unhealthy but many don’t realize just how devastating this disease can be and how important it is to get to a healthy weight. Significantly overweight or severely obese people often face serious health consequences, including increased risk of heart attack, stroke, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea and even premature death.x,xi In fact, obesity is the second leading cause of preventable death in the United States,second to smoking.xvi If this is you, it is important to know you don’t need to live a life compromised by obesity. If you are struggling with your weight and the health risks associated with it, you can start now on a path to a healthy life. There are weight-loss treatment options that can give you hope, including the LAP-BAND® System, an adjustable, safer and less invasive alternative to gastric bypass.

What’s the Solution?

Weight-loss procedures are a well-established method of weight control for severely obese adults. Compared to non-surgical treatments, weight-loss surgery yields the longest period of sustained weight loss in patients who havefailed other therapies.xx Medical research has found that for those 100 pounds or more overweight, weight-loss surgery is more effective than traditional dieting.i,ii

In the United States, laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding and gastric bypass are two common types of weight-loss procedures. The LAP-BAND® System is the first U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved adjustable gastric band for use in weight reduction in severely obese adults. It is considered safer and less invasive than gastric bypass, as there is no stomach cutting, stapling or intestinal re-routing involved.xiii,xiv,xv

The LAP-BAND® System, launched in 2007, is an evolution of the LAP-BAND® System. It was developed to provide an additional tool to meet the needs of a wide range of patients and represents the most advanced technology in gastric banding. The LAP-BAND® System involves placing an adjustable,gastric band around the top portion of the stomach that can be tightened or loosened to help an individual achieve a feeling of fullness while maintaining a healthy diet.

The LAP-BAND® System has an unparalleled amount of surgeon experience and patient use compared with other types of gastric bands. It is the number one selling adjustable gastric band for weight loss, with more than 400,000 procedures performed worldwide. To further support patients’ weight-loss journeys, the LAP-BAND® System Web site offers information and support for patients pre- and post-surgery. The Web site, www.lapband.com, provides an interactive, personalized support program, information on free seminars, background information to determineif they qualify for surgery, and most importantly, a surgeon locator to find a surgeon in their area who performs the LAP-BAND® System procedure.

Your Moment is Now to take the next step to overcoming obesity. Weight-loss treatment options should be tailored to a person’s overall health, weight-loss needs and BMI. To learn more about what may be right for you, speak to
our team at LAP-BAND® lubbock.

References
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Pharmacological and Surgical Treatment of Obesity., Evidence Report/Technology Assessment No. 103.
(Prepared by the Southern California–RAND Evidence-based Practice Center, under Contract No. 290-02-
0003.) AHRQ Publication No. 04-E028-1. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. July 2004.
ii Muscelli E, Mingrone G, Camastra S et al. Differential effect of weight loss on insulin resistance in surgically treated obese patients. Am J Med 2005; 118: 51-7.
iii Atkinson R, Hubbard V. Report on the NIH Workshop on Pharmacologic Treatment of Obesity. Am J Clin Nutr. 1994; 60: 153-6.
iv NIH Technology Assessment Conference Panel. Methods for voluntary weight loss and control. Ann Intern Med 1993; 119 (7pt 2):764.
v Roizen M, Oz M, You On A Diet. New York, Free Press, 2006: 10-11, 76-77.
vi Roizen M, Oz M, You On A Diet. New York, Free Press, 2006: 86.
vii Roizen M, Oz M, You On A Diet. New York, Free Press, 2006: 10-11.
viii Roizen M, Oz M, You On A Diet. New York, Free Press, 2006: 11, 341.
ix World Health Organization. Available at http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/publications/facts/ obesity/en/. Accessed 7/16/07.
x American Obesity Association. AOA Fact Sheets. Health effects of obesity. Available at http://www.obesity.org/subs/fastfacts/Health_Effects.shtml. Accessed 1/18/07.
xi Ahroni JH, Montgomery KF, Watkins BM. Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding: Weight Loss, Comorbidities,
Medication Usage and Quality of Life at One Year,” Obesity Surgery 2005; 15:641-647.
xii Roizen M, Oz M, You On A Diet. New York, Free Press, 2006: 76-77.
xiii Chapman A, Game P, O’Brien P, Maddern G, Kiroff G, Foster B, Ham J. Executive summary:
Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding for the treatment of obesity: Update and re-appraisal. Australian
Safety and Efficacy Register of New Interventional Procedures-Surgical (ASERNIP-S) Report No. 31, Second
Edition. Adelaide, South Australia: ASERNIP-S, June 2002. (Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding
surgery, like the LAP-BAND®® surgery, is associated with a mean short-term mortality rate of around 0.05%
compared to 0.50% for Gastric Bypass and 0.31% for Vertical Banded Gastroplasty.)
xiv Parikh MS, Shen R, Weiner M, Siegel N, Ren CJ. Laparoscopic bariatric surgery in super-obese patients
(BMI>50) is safe and effective: a review of 332 patients. Obes Surg. 2005 Jun-Jul;15(6):858-63.
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banding in the treatment of obesity: a systematic literature review. Surgery 2004;135:326-351.
xvi American Obesity Association. AOA Fact Sheets. Available at http://www.obesity.org/subs/fastfacts/obesity_US.shtml. Accessed 1/18/07.
xvii Roehling M. Weight-based discrimination in employment: psychological and legal aspects. PersonnelPsychology 1999:52(4):: 969-1016.
xviii U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Surgeon General’s Call To Action To Prevent
and Decrease Overweight and Obesity in 2001. http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/pdf/CalltoAction.pdf. Accessed 2/23/07
xiv Sturm R. The effects of obesity, smoking and problem drinking on chronic medical problems and health care costs. Health Affairs. 2002:21(2):245-253
xx American Society for Bariatric Surgery. Rationale for the Surgical Treatment of Morbid Obesity. Available at www.asbs.org/html/rationale/rationale.html. Accessed 1/17/07.
xxi American Society for Bariatric Surgery. Story for surgery for obesity. Available at http://www.asbs.org/ html/patients/story. html. Accessed 1/23/07.