In society's never-ending struggle against the obesity epidemic, patients and conventional medicine have become so desperate that both have resorted to unbelievable techniques to stop it, some of which involve surgically implanted balloons and gastric bypass procedures.
Duke University researchers recently unveiled a five-point scoring system that can predict a patient's mortality risks associated with gastric bypass, based on a study of some 2,100 people who had the procedure between 1995-2004. The 31 patients who died after a gastric bypass procedure shared these four common traits:
- A history of hypertension
- Male
- The risk or previous occurrence of a pulmonary embolism
- A body mass index higher than 50
Scientists also added age as a fifth factor, based on previous studies that showed patients over age 45 faced the highest mortality risks. The point system makes some sense: Twenty-eight of the 31 bariatric patients who died shared two or more of those risk factors.
Don't think you're out of the woods even if you have a "successful" gastric bypass procedures. You may suffer many more complications down the road -- think liver failure and bone loss.
If you recall, the former half-ton man who underwent this same procedure lost most of his weight thanks to an exercise program and restricting his diet, likely by limiting his intake of grains and sugars.
Yahoo News July 7, 2006
Duke University Medical News June 29, 2006