COVID 19 and Bariatric Surgery - The time is NOW to get the weight off!
Having a lighter weight at the time of the COVID pandemic improves your general health and wellbeing, and your immune system will be significantly more effective to minimise your risk of a severe or life-threatening infection. I would consider being very proactive for bariatric surgery if you are in a dangerous weight range (BMI over 30) to prepare yourself for the almost inevitable COVID infection, whether vaccinated or not.
A recent British medical journal paper revealed that COVID-19 death rates were much higher in countries where obesity was prevalent. UK and USA had the highest death rates and the highest obesity rates when compared to Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and other nations where more than half of the population were not obese. Sadly, New Zealand and Australia are very obese nations and can expect higher mortality rates once COVID is more prevalent.
Bariatric surgery patients usually lose 20 kg or more by 6 months and continue to lose weight for 18 months on average. Sleeve gastrectomy or gastric bypass involves an overnight stay and reduces the patients total body weight by 20-35% in the long term. Sadly, diet and exercise has never produced these results in medium or long term studies. Weight loss improves immune defence and infers a better chance to fight infections such as COVID-19. Surgery is cost effective and improves patients’ quality of life. 2000 Bariatric patients had less deaths than 2000 matched controls with fewer cancers, heart attacks, strokes and mental illness.
Many people perceive weight loss as a massive undertaking. My last 1000 prospective patients simply have an overnight stay at The Wesley Hospital (average 1.1 days). The Wesley is the only externally audited Centre of Excellence in Queensland for bariatric surgery. Follow-up continues with a program of progressive, safe, weight loss under dietitian and medical guidance. The physical, mental and medical health improvements have been staggering (90% cure of sleep apnoea, 75% cure of diabetes, hypertension, reflux)
Australia wide, some 20,000 patients yearly are choosing a laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, the most common procedure, which affords one third of total body weight loss after a year and then in the long term an average of 25% total body weight loss could be expected. Laparoscopic gastric bypass infers even greater weight reduction with patients usually keeping more than a third of their weight loss off for life. We tend to perform bypass on patients with severe diabetes and a higher BMI heading towards 50 or above.
All my bariatric patients go home the following day with an exceptional safety profile documented on our prospective database at The Wesley Hospital.
Medical alternatives for obese patients are very expensive, not nearly as effective and need to be given lifelong. The new Ozempic injections are very costly (approx $150 per month), provide 7 kg of weight loss against placebo on follow up studies at 12 months. The laparoscopic gastric band has come out of favour as the weight loss is modest, in the order of 20% total body weight loss, and has a very high re-operation rate of approximately 5% every year after the band is placed. We are removing many lap bands on patients who request further weight loss or are experiencing severe reflux and generally convert these to a gastric bypass with an overnight stay at The Wesley Hospital.
Phone our team now to discuss.