Bariatric Surgery - Ghrelin - New Mystery Hormone Discovered?
Bariatric surgery is a drastic measure for drastic measurements, but it really has turned out to offer the best long-term results for treating obesity. But the conventional wisdom on WHY it works may be challenged by some new research.
I'm Dr. Caroline Cederquist, giving you the Skinny on Your Health.
There are several kinds of bariatric surgery, and they work either by reducing the stomach's capacity to hold food, or limiting its ability to digest it.
But recent research shows that the long-term effectiveness of gastric surgery may come from reducing production of a hormone that actually causes hunger.
The hormone, called Ghrelin, is found at high levels in overweight people, but even HIGHER levels in people who have recently lost weight through non-surgical means.
And Ghrelin is found in LOW levels in lean people. But it is found in even LOWER levels in people who've had gastric surgeries.
Now, Ghrelin is normally produced in the stomach. So … less stomach, less Ghrelin, less hunger? That's what researchers seem to be concluding. This one may be worth watching…
Gender Differences in Bariatric Surgery
Weight-loss surgery used to be considered a very extreme treatment, reserved for only the most extreme weight problems. Nowadays, people are turning to surgery earlier, but it's still mostly women who go under the knife.
I'm Dr. Caroline Cederquist, giving you the Skinny on Your Health.
Looking at ten years of data from North Carolina, researchers found that the number of clinically obese men and women doubled between 1990 and 2001, and gastric bypass and stomach stapling procedures increased for both men and women.
But for men, it was a 14-fold increase, whereas for women, it was a 20-fold increase. More than 80 percent of bariatric surgery patients are still women, and they seek the surgical solution much earlier in their weight battle than men tend to.
Research consistently shows that the emotional and social problems of obesity are more pronounced for women, so the disparity stands to reason, the authors concluded.
It's that extra burden -the non-physical pain- that provides the impetus for women to take a more radical step to address the problem.
Weight-Loss Surgeries
With most of us normally so reluctant to go under the knife, what's driving the popularity of weight-loss surgery?
I'm Dr. Caroline Cederquist, giving you The Skinny on Your Health.
With the majority of Americans overweight today, more people are learning that weight-loss surgeries can be good investment in health.
Long-term statistics show major improvements in cardio-vascular health, joint conditions, and of course, body weight.
In fact, the Journal of the American Medical Association said these procedures "offer the best treatment to produce sustained weight loss in patients who are seriously obese."
But there's the rub. Surgery truly is not for everyone. The seriously obese are those defined as being 100 percent above their ideal body weight. These people are simply at greater medical risk from remaining overweight than they are from undergoing surgery.
And while the incidence of complications is relatively low, these are still complex and demanding procedures, for both the doctor and the patient, and they ought to be treated as a last resort.
