Over the years I have seen many patients that struggle with their weight unsuccessfully.  Kym, who is a dear friend and has been in the health professional field for years, is one.  I have known her for 7 years and she had always been on one diet or another, lost weight, but regained it again.

She attended one of our Lap Band seminar mostly for her daughter’s sake, who was overweight, and decided to have the Lap Band procedure.

She had the Lap Band in 2009 and has so far lost 118 pounds.  Kym is more confident as she went from a size 22 to a size 4!

She has graciously committed to be Director of our weight loss support group at Inland Cosmetic.  The support group usually meets every last Wednesday of the month.  For more details on Kym’s story and dates for our support group, visit our surgical center website at:

http://www.surgicalartsinlandempire.com/lap-band-patient-story-1.html

The Lap Band procedure is performed by Dr. Owens, who is one of the leading experts in Bariatric Surgery.  The cost of the Lap Band procedure my be covered by your PPO insurance, so for a quick verification, you may contact the office at 909-579-3111.

The LAP-BAND® is a small, adjustable, flexible stomach band that limits the amount of food intake and therefore leads to significant weight loss over time.  The advantage of the band is that it is usually performed laparoscopically (with the help of small cameras and minimal incisions), does not involve any stomach or intestinal stapling or re-routing and it is reversible.   

Who is a candidate?

FDA just recently voted in favor of expanding the use of the LAP-BAND®.  The proposal would lower the LAP-BAND® requirement to a BMI of 35 or higher, or as low as 30 with one related health problem.

Here is a picture of one of our acutal patients who has lost 118 lbs so far.

Click on the picture to read Kym’s story

How does the process work?

At Surgical Arts of the Inland Empire, we work closely with a bariatric surgeon, nutritionist and other health care professionals to help our patients through the whole process.  The patient is evaluated by our bariatric surgeon who educates them about their options.  Most PPO insurances may cover the procedure.  The surgery takes about an hour and performed on an outpatient basis. 

The success of the procedure is dependent on appropriate adjustment of the band as well as lifestyle modifications.  Usually on average, patients lose about a pound per week. 

What’s Next?

I see many patients that have lost significant amount of weight either by diet and exercise, the LAP-BAND® or bypass procedure on a weekly basis.  They have transformed their lives and are healthier but still feel trapped in the old body because of the excess loose skin left in the tummy, arms, breast or thighs.

We address their concerns by tailoring a treatment plan specific to the problem areas.  The most common procedures for post-massive weight loss patients are: Tummy Tucks, Body Lifts, Arm Lifts, Breast Lifts and Thigh Lifts.

For more information on the LAP-BAND® and Post Weight Loss Body Contouring, you can visit our website at http://www.inlandcosmetic.com/post-weight-loss-surgery.html  or www.iesurgical.com. 

You can call us at 909-579-3111 for more information or to see if your insurance may cover any of these procedures.  Surgical Arts of the Inland Empire is our fully accredited surgical center located at 8680 Monroe Court, Suite 100, Rancho Cucamonga.

Before and after photos of a Lap Band patient (image courtesy of Allergan.com)

An FDA Advisory Committee has recommended with an 8-2 vote that the FDA extend the currently approved use of Allergan‘s Lad Band® System, used for weight loss surgery, to patients that have a body mass index of 35 and above.

The Lap Band, an inflatable silicone tube that is placed on the upper portion of the stomach and effectively limits food intake and suppresses hunger, is currently indicated for patients with:

• BMI of 40 or higher
• BMI of 35 or higher combined with a health problem such as diabetes or high blood pressure

The change would make the Lap Band available to patients who have a BMI of 35 or higher and patients with a BMI of 30 or higher and at least one weight-related health problem.

The FDA committee’s decision came after a five-year study of 149 obese patients treated with the Lap Band that found over 80 percent lost at least 30 percent of their weight after a year.

According to an msnbc article, the FDA will make a final decision on the wider use, but the agency typically follows the advice of its advisory panels.

If granted wider usage, millions more people could be eligible for the Lap Band weight loss surgery. About 15 million Americans are candidates under the current guidelines and about 27 million more fit under the broader group, Allergan said.

To learn more about the Lap Band surgery or to discuss whether you might be a good candidate, contact Inland Cosmetic Surgery to schedule a consultation.

The seventeen recommendations were published online in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism by the task force that was headed by David Heber, MD, PhD, of the University of California Los Angeles.

The task force recommends that clinicians should:

• Monitor bone density and serum nutrient levels after bariatric procedures that can reduce nutrient absorption.
• Consider vitamin and mineral supplements for all patients who’ve had weight-loss surgery.

The guidelines also recommend that patients’ postoperative diets should that include 60 to 120 grams of protein per day immediately after surgery and for long-term nutritional management.

The task force wrote:

“To guide patients through the transition to life after bariatric surgery, a multidisciplinary team that includes an experienced primary care physician, endocrinologist, or gastroenterologist should provide care, and patients should consider enrolling postoperatively in a comprehensive program for nutrition and lifestyle management.

“Such support can ease the transition to life after bariatric surgery and may help prevent weight regain.”

The task force also recommended that patients be monitored clinically for nutrient deficiencies; the guidelines included a symptom list for deficiencies in six major vitamins and minerals.

They also called for a more rigorous study of diabetes and other metabolic disorders in bariatric surgery patients in order to obtain better data on long-term outcomes and possible complications.

The abstract is available online at the journal’s website. Inland Cosmetic Surgery offers lap band surgery and post bariatric body contouring procedures.

Strain’s study compared 120 bariatric surgery patients (most with gastric bypass and some with lap band) and 60 obese patients who did not undergo surgery. Patients were tested for attention, executive function, memory and language skills before and after surgery, within a 12-week period.

There were no changes for attention, executive function and language skills during the three-month period. However, there was improvement in memory among the bariatric surgery patients, which was not found in the comparison group.

While it’s not clear why the patients’ memories improved, Strain speculates it could be because of a decrease in depression after weight loss surgery. “Bariatric patients have an increased incidence of depressive disorders and anxiety and sedentary lifestyles,” Strain explains. As they lose weight, that depression may lift, perhaps explaining the improvement in cognitive skills, she says.

Read more about this study on WebMD.

Another new report, released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, estimated that 70 percent of Americans are overweight and about a third are obese or at least 30 pounds overweight.

Bariatric surgery is one option for the obese. Patients can achieve a significant weight reduction and improvement in general health through a bariatric procedure, such as lap band. Weight loss surgery works by limiting the amount of food a person can consume.

One of these benefits is a decreased risk of gestational diabetes and cesarean section for obese women who have weight loss surgery before they get pregnant, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. Obese women who had weight loss surgery before conceiving were three times less likely to develop gestational diabetes.

The researchers compared rates of gestational diabetes among 346 obese women who had bariatric surgery before pregnancy and 354 obese women who had bariatric surgery after delivery.

The study found:

• Rates of gestational diabetes were 8 percent for those who had the surgery before pregnancy compared with 27 percent for those who had the surgery after delivery
• Rates of cesarean delivery were 28 percent for those who had the surgery before pregnancy compared with 43 percent for those who had the surgery after delivery
• Most of the women who underwent weight loss surgery did not wait the recommended two years afterwards before delivering a baby

Learn more about bariatric surgery and post weight loss surgery in Rancho Cucamonga, California.

California ranks as the 41^st most obese state, and while far down in the rankings, it still has an adult obesity rate of 24.4 percent. For historical perspective, no state had an obesity rate above 20 percent in 1991.  The number 1 ranking went to Mississippi, where 33.8 percent of adults are obese, and Colorado has the lowest obesity rate of any state, at 19.1 percent.

“This report shows that the country has taken bold steps to address the obesity crisis in recent years, but the nation’s response has yet to fully match the magnitude of the problem. Millions of Americans still face barriers – like the high cost of healthy foods and lack of access to safe places to be physically active – that make healthy choices challenging,” said Jeffrey Levi, PhD, executive director of Trust for America’s Health, which released the report together with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

More people are turning to bariatric surgery to lose a significant amount of weight and reduce the health risks related to obesity.

Laparoscopic bariatric surgery involves an inflatable silicone tube called a lap band being placed on the upper portion of the stomach, which effectively limits the patient’s food intake and suppresses hunger. As a result, patients feel satisfied with smaller amounts of food, which leads to weight loss. The surgery should not interfere with normal digestion.

A good candidate for the lap band surgery meets the following requirements:

• BMI of 40 or higher
• No hyperphagia/polyphagia
• Good mental health
• Between ages 18 – 55
• History of failure with traditional weight loss methods

Contact our office for a complimentary consultation with our Bariatric Surgeon who performs laparoscopic bariatric surgery in our state-of-the-art facility in Rancho Cucamonga, California.

Dr. Haiavy performs  post-bariatric cosmetic surgery to remove or tighten excess, loose skin. Common post-bariatric body contouring procedures include  tummy tuck, breast lift, body lift, arm Lift, and liposuction.

Last week in Austin TX, doctors from the American College of Sports Medicine met for 14th annual Health and Fitness Summit, where they discussed the best exercise programs for bariatric surgery patients, those who undergo gastric bypass, lap band or realize band surgery.

Fitness experts Paul Sorace, M.S., and Adam de Jong, M.A gave the following recommendations:

Aerobic exercise

• The core of the post-bariatric exercise program
• Burns the most calories
• Good way to ease into physical activity

Resistance training

• should be limited (especially in abdomen), but great to combine with aerobic exercise
• increase muscle mass and quickens fat loss in post-bariatric surgery patients

Flexibility exercise

• great for improving range of motion, but use caution to prevent injury

What is bariatric surgery?

Bariatric surgery, in its various forms, alters or removes parts of the stomach to induce weight loss. Patients who undergo bariatric surgery typically have a BMI of 35 or greater.  Popular procedures include the following:

The Lap Band, an inflatable silicone device that is placed on the upper portion of your stomach, effectively limiting food intake and suppressing hunger.

Gastric Bypass is procedure that divides the stomach to create a small pouch, which gets connected to a loop of the small intestine. By reducing stomach size, the patient is satisfied a smaller amount of food.

We have recently incorporated the Lap Band system into our practice at Inland Cosmetic Surgery.  To schedule a complimentary consultation with our bariatric surgeon, call us at 909-987-0899 today.

Click here to read more about the Lap Band Procedure:  http://www.inlandcosmetic.com/lap-band-inland-empire.html

This new location comes with ample parking and the privacy and comforts our patients’ desire. In addition to gaining more space for our practice, we built a state of the art surgical center named Surgical Arts of The Inland Empire. This Surgical Center is equipped with the latest technology for endoscopic surgery as well as traditional and laser assisted surgery.

In addition, being that Dr. Haiavy is a fellowship director and is passionate about teaching, the facility is built with latest video and computer technology to be able to host other surgeons for live surgery courses.

With this expansion and move we will be able to associate with other surgeons that can serve our patients as well. We will be working with some very talented surgeons:

• Cosmetic Podiatrist
• Vascular surgeon for vein therapy and sclerotherapy
• Bariatric surgeon for the Lap Band procedures and weight loss surgery
• Cosmetic Gynecologist for laser vaginal labioplasty and other procedures

You are invited to visit our new facility as we feel proud of our new home and hope to continue to serve you in the future.  Please look for an upcoming open house in the near future.