Stomach bypass best for extreme obesity

NEW YORK, July 18 (Reuters) Although technically more challenging, laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, a common type of stomach bypass operation, provides greater weight loss in severely obese patients than does placing a plastic band around the stomach to make it smaller, new research shows.

Stomach bypass is also more likely than banding to promote the resolution of diseases often seen in obese patients, such as high blood pressure and diabetes.

Although multiple trials have compared the two procedures, this is the first study to focus specifically on patients with a BMI greater than 50 -- with super morbid obesity -- Dr.

George Ferzli and his associates report in their article, published in the Archives of Surgery.

BMI is a measure of body weight for height. Values between 20 and 25 are typically considered normal. Any value of 30 or greater is considered obese.

This information is vital for patients considering weight loss surgery, Ferzli told Reuters Health, ''because proper patient and procedure selection, proper follow-up, and proper long-term support are quite important in achieving the desired outcome.'' At the SUNY-Health Science Center of Brooklyn in Staten Island, New York, patients undergoing weight loss surgery decided which procedure would be performed, after receiving extensive counseling. To be eligible, the patients had to complete a supervised dietary and exercise program of 8 to 12 months without maintaining weight loss.

More Reuters SB DS1243