Kevin1708
Century Club
The Health Service could make massive savings if it allowed more obese patients to have stomach bands fitted, surgeons say.
Every year it costs £5billion to treat illnesses linked to obesity, such as type 2 diabetes. This bill is likely to double by 2050.
But according to research, weight-loss surgery among younger people eliminates diabetes in more than four out of five patients, halves excess fat, and recoups the cost of surgery within three years.
Celebrities such as Vanessa Feltz and Fern Britton have had stomach – or bariatric – surgery, which includes procedures such as gastric bypasses or gastric bands to reduce the amount of food eaten.
And now data based on NHS and private operations show major health improvements for patients.
By the time they have surgery, two-thirds of severely obese patients have three or more associated diseases, an audit found.
One in three has high blood pressure, more than a quarter have diabetes and almost a fifth have high cholesterol.
A year after surgery, patients lost some 58 per cent of excess weight. After two years, 86 per cent of those who had suffered from diabetes, no longer had it – and there was improvement on all associated diseases.
According to the National Bariatric Surgery Registry, which studied 8,700 operations, diabetes alone costs the NHS £3,000 per patient a year for life. By contrast, the £8,000 cost of bariatric surgery is recouped within three years.
And although official figures say one in five of England’s one million severely obese patients are eligible for surgery – and willing – only a few thousand a year actually have it.
John Black, president of the Royal College of Surgeons, said: ‘It is a false economy to cut funding for this type of surgery. Any short-term savings are tiny compared with the real ongoing cost of treating obese patients.’
Bariatric surgeon Alberic Fiennes, of the NBSR data committee, said: ‘This data shows that not only is UK bariatric surgery safe, but it successfully treats a whole range of diseases – including the rapid resolution of diabetes. Yet commissioners continue to ignore the facts.
‘An approach that limits treatment to a fraction of those who would benefit is one which the NHS will rue in years to come as these patients become an unsustainable burden.’
But experts warned weight-loss surgery would not ‘cure’ type 2 diabetes, even though many patients may benefit from long-term remission. Professor Sir George Alberti, of the Diabetes UK charity, said the clinically obese should try to lose weight through diet and lifestyle changes first.
‘Bariatric surgery should be used as an alternative treatment to help people lose weight if all other attempts have been unsuccessful and their diabetes remains poorly controlled,’ he said.
‘If trends continue, 60 per cent of men and 50 per cent of women will be obese by 2050 and the majority will either have type 2 diabetes or be at high risk.’
The Department of Health said: ‘Bariatric surgery should only be considered as a last resort once weight-loss schemes and exercise programmes have been tried.’
See : dailymail.co.uk 26/04/2011
Every year it costs £5billion to treat illnesses linked to obesity, such as type 2 diabetes. This bill is likely to double by 2050.
But according to research, weight-loss surgery among younger people eliminates diabetes in more than four out of five patients, halves excess fat, and recoups the cost of surgery within three years.
Celebrities such as Vanessa Feltz and Fern Britton have had stomach – or bariatric – surgery, which includes procedures such as gastric bypasses or gastric bands to reduce the amount of food eaten.
And now data based on NHS and private operations show major health improvements for patients.
By the time they have surgery, two-thirds of severely obese patients have three or more associated diseases, an audit found.
One in three has high blood pressure, more than a quarter have diabetes and almost a fifth have high cholesterol.
A year after surgery, patients lost some 58 per cent of excess weight. After two years, 86 per cent of those who had suffered from diabetes, no longer had it – and there was improvement on all associated diseases.
According to the National Bariatric Surgery Registry, which studied 8,700 operations, diabetes alone costs the NHS £3,000 per patient a year for life. By contrast, the £8,000 cost of bariatric surgery is recouped within three years.
And although official figures say one in five of England’s one million severely obese patients are eligible for surgery – and willing – only a few thousand a year actually have it.
John Black, president of the Royal College of Surgeons, said: ‘It is a false economy to cut funding for this type of surgery. Any short-term savings are tiny compared with the real ongoing cost of treating obese patients.’
Bariatric surgeon Alberic Fiennes, of the NBSR data committee, said: ‘This data shows that not only is UK bariatric surgery safe, but it successfully treats a whole range of diseases – including the rapid resolution of diabetes. Yet commissioners continue to ignore the facts.
‘An approach that limits treatment to a fraction of those who would benefit is one which the NHS will rue in years to come as these patients become an unsustainable burden.’
But experts warned weight-loss surgery would not ‘cure’ type 2 diabetes, even though many patients may benefit from long-term remission. Professor Sir George Alberti, of the Diabetes UK charity, said the clinically obese should try to lose weight through diet and lifestyle changes first.
‘Bariatric surgery should be used as an alternative treatment to help people lose weight if all other attempts have been unsuccessful and their diabetes remains poorly controlled,’ he said.
‘If trends continue, 60 per cent of men and 50 per cent of women will be obese by 2050 and the majority will either have type 2 diabetes or be at high risk.’
The Department of Health said: ‘Bariatric surgery should only be considered as a last resort once weight-loss schemes and exercise programmes have been tried.’
See : dailymail.co.uk 26/04/2011
