Obesity in the News

Top expert calls for routine gastric band operations to fight obesity and save cash
THE NHS could save billions of pounds by tackling the obesity crisis with routine gastric band operations on overweight patients, a leading world expert has revealed in Birmingham.

Read more at http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories/2009/09/11/expert-calls-for-routine-gastric-band-operations-to-fight-obesity-and-save-cash-97319-24657756/

Degree in obesity developed in Scotland
The Royal Gordon University in Aberdeen is the first institution to offer an MSc in Obesity Science.
In response to the growing obesity epidemic, the Centre for Obesity Research has developed a new Obesity Science Degree for health care students. This is designed to help them better understand the causes and consequences of being severely overweight.

Read more at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/north_east/8126623.stm

Contagious obesity
Researches in the US have used data on more than 12000 people to show that the risk of someone becoming obese is increased by; 57% if a friend is obese, by 40% if a sibling is obese and by 37% if a spouse was. Experts have been quick to point out that becoming obese is far more complicated than the casual relationship between gaining weight and the changing norms of an acceptable body size, as implied by the study.

Read more at http://www.news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6914397.stm

Gastric reduction surgery option for obese Irish children
Though gastric bypass surgery is ordinarily reserved for obese adults as a final attempt to lose weight, it is now thought in Ireland that the life-changing operation may need to be performed on morbidly obese teenagers.

Read more at www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article525215.ece

Bariatric surgery lowers the incidence of cancer in women
The Swedish Obese Subjects (SOS) study matched 2010 obese participants who underwent bariatric surgery with 2037 who received conventional weight loss treatment. Follow up appointments for the next 17 years were used to record any cancer incidents. The study found bariatric surgery resulted in a sustained weight loss of 20kg over 10 years compared to just 1.3kg for other weight loss methods. It also showed that following surgery, the number of first time cancers among women was 79 compared to 130 in the non surgery group.

Read more at www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(09)70159-7/fulltext