50+ Lifestyles

New Year’s Resolution

By Matthew Christophersen, MD, FACS
Davenport Surgical Group P.C.

Hoping all the readers of 50+ lifestyles had wonderful holidays. The new year is upon us, and many I’m sure have thought about New Year’s resolutions. One of the most
common New Year’s resolution is to lose weight.  While there are many diets which tout their benefits, surgical weight loss remains one of the few options which provides long-term
success.

Less than 1 percent of eligible patients seek surgical weight loss as an option.  Eligibility is still based on a National Institutes of Health consensus conference which supports consideration of surgical weight loss options for patients with a body mass index greater than 40 or greater than 35 with significant weight related illnesses.

Most eligible patients and their physicians do not realize that the safety of bariatric surgery has improved to the point where risks are comparable to laparoscopic cholecystectomy or a knee replacement. The safety aspect is important for patients to understand, because the impact of weight loss surgery on illnesses such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, hypercholesterolemia and large joint arthritis
is significant.

Let me share a story of a patient who in her early 70s decided to seek weight loss surgery. Preoperatively she
suffered from back pain, diabetes, hypertension, knee pain and stress incontinence. Prior to surgery she weighed 355 pounds and over the first year after surgery lost 127 pounds and currently weighs 228 pounds. She had improvement in all of her weight-related illnesses significantly reducing needed medications for treatment of her weight-related illnesses.

More important to the patient, her mobility has dramatically increased, and she now has plans to travel to Hawaii as well as attend a Chicago Cub’s baseball game this summer.  She says this would’ve been impossible without surgery.

If you meet eligibility criteria for surgical weight loss, have the discussion with your physician. There are accredited, dedicated programs in our area which provide the multidisciplinary care required for surgical weight loss procedures.

Let this be the year to make a decision which will impact your health and function. Sign up for a Genesis Center for Weight Management education session to learn more.

Matthew Christophersen, MD, FACS is a physician at Davenport Surgical Group PC. For more information call (563) 823-9300.