Dr. Dirk Rodriguez Recommends Obesity Surgery for Teens
Dallas, TX (PRWEB) November 09, 2013 -- An ongoing study in the United States based in the University of Cincinnati shows that obesity surgery is safe for teenagers and has good results. Read the study at http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/kids-health/230506551.html.
The ongoing studies in North America have only looked at the lap band and gastric bypass operations. But in the results in the last three years have been promising.
Dr. Dirk Rodriguez encourages parents with obese teenagers to seriously consider obesity surgery to improve their children’s short- and long-term health.
“Scientifc studies from 10 years ago clearly show that an obese teenager has a more than 50 percent chance of becoming an obese adult with health problems,” said Rodriguez, a Dallas-based bariatric surgeon.
He agrees with the statement in the study, “Lifestyle changes, diets and medications work less than 5 percent of the time for adults. The studies in teenagers mirror those results.”
The new results bolster evidence from smaller studies in teens and also suggest teens may do better, at least initially, than adults. Earlier 30-day research in adults found a few deaths after obesity surgery, although the risk was no greater than for other major operations. There were no deaths in the teen study.
“My personal experience with teenagers and young adults is they do very well after surgery. I engage in a direct conversation with the teenage patient,” said Rodriguez. “It’s a two way exchange of ideas and thoughts. I make sure they get a chance to speak without influence from their parents. I do not exclude the parents, but I need to hear what the teenager is thinking, wondering, scared of. I ask them about school life, friends, family. This helps me reach the teenager, and it helps them be sure that I understand them.”
A three-year follow-up report on more than 2,000 patients in the adult study was also published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association. It showed adults generally had fewer obesity-related illnesses than in the teen study, and most weight loss occurred within the first year after surgery. Gastric bypass surgery, the most common operation in the U.S., resulted in more weight loss and more improvement in related illnesses than stomach banding, as other studies have shown. Three-year death rates were low, and similar for both procedures, but band patients had many more repeat surgeries.
Rodriguez agrees with the study authors that the patient must be psychologically mature enough to understand the life changes that the operation will bring to their life.
“I also need the parents and family to be active participants,” he emphasized. “Without the family involvement, the surgery won’t give the results these teenagers need and expect.”
Rodriguez has been an obesity surgeon for 15 years with over 10,000 weight loss operations performed. He is a minimally-invasive advanced laparoscopic surgeon. He uses these surgical techniques for gallbladder surgery, hiatal hernia surgery, acid reflux (or GERD) surgery, belly wall hernia and other major operations that can be reduced in size and seriousness by doing them minimally invasively. He is a trained vascular surgeon having operated on difficult circulation problems. He is a decorated US Air Force military and trauma surgeon as well as a decorated flight officer.
About the Company:
Dr. Dirk Rodriguez is a passionate believer that lap band surgery, gastric sleeve and gastric bypass can give patients back their life and health. To get started, browse his website at http://www.drdirkweightloss.com for all the information needed to make informed decisions about bariatric surgery. Patients will find videos that make it simple to learn everything they need to know about weight-loss surgery, procedures and revisions. Patients can even register for no-cost weight loss seminars on the website.
The more patients know, the better they will understand what surgery will and will not do. There are lots of questions and even fears about surgery, and Rodriguez’s website is the place where patients can replace fear with knowledge.
Bryson Elder, Dr. Dirk Rodriguez, http://www.drdirkweightloss.com, 214-373-4751, [email protected]
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