Re: Lifespan Impact of WLS

[Guest guest]

I have not heard of any studies that have been done. It doesn't

necessarily mean it hasn't been done. However, would personal stories

help? I went into the hospital on May 14, 2001 with congestive heart

failure and COPD. I was not expected to live. I had surgery on July 16,

2001. I was out of a wheelchair by November of 2001 and stopped using my

walker and cane consistently in December of 2002. I had a choice of

dieing, being wheelchair bound the rest of my short life, or living life.

I choose to have the surgery to have a better lif.

Lori Owen - Denton, Texas

SRVG 7/16/01

Dr. Ritter/Dr. Bryce

479/335/???

On Thu, 03 Jul 2003 19:40:55 -0000 " " writes:

> Do any of you have references about how WLS can impact our lifespan?

>

> My hubby has asked me a couple of times if I am going to die younger

>

> than normal since I have had WLS and I tell him no. Logically, you

>

> would expect lifespan to increase since so many co-morbidities

> improve or go away when we are no longer morbidly obese. However, I

>

> have only seen statistics that address life span from a short term

> perspective. Are there any articles or studies on long term WLS

> patients?

> Thanks!

> in Washington

> Lap RNY Sept 2001

> Minus 205 pounds

> 333.5/128

> http://www.wworw.com

>

>

>

> Homepage: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Graduate-OSSG

>

> Unsubscribe: mailto:Graduate-OSSG-unsubscribe

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks Lori. What an amazing transformation for your health!

in Washington

Lap RNY Sept 2001

Minus 205 pounds

333.5/128

http://www.wworw.com

> I have not heard of any studies that have been done. It doesn't

> necessarily mean it hasn't been done. However, would personal

stories

> help? I went into the hospital on May 14, 2001 with congestive

heart

> failure and COPD. I was not expected to live. I had surgery on

July 16,

> 2001. I was out of a wheelchair by November of 2001 and stopped

using my

> walker and cane consistently in December of 2002. I had a choice

of

> dieing, being wheelchair bound the rest of my short life, or

living life.

> I choose to have the surgery to have a better lif.

> Lori Owen - Denton, Texas

> SRVG 7/16/01

> Dr. Ritter/Dr. Bryce

> 479/335/???

>

> On Thu, 03 Jul 2003 19:40:55 -0000 " " <willowwa@h...> writes:

> > Do any of you have references about how WLS can impact our

lifespan?

> >

> > My hubby has asked me a couple of times if I am going to die

younger

> >

> > than normal since I have had WLS and I tell him no. Logically,

you

> >

> > would expect lifespan to increase since so many co-morbidities

> > improve or go away when we are no longer morbidly obese.

However, I

> >

> > have only seen statistics that address life span from a short

term

> > perspective. Are there any articles or studies on long term WLS

> > patients?

> > Thanks!

> > in Washington

> > Lap RNY Sept 2001

> > Minus 205 pounds

> > 333.5/128

> > http://www.wworw.com

> >

> >

> >

> > Homepage: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Graduate-OSSG

> >

> > Unsubscribe: mailto:Graduate-OSSG-unsubscribe

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

From the ASBS conference, Allied Health Essentials course......

Years of life lost due to obesity..obesity appears to lessen life epectancy

markedly especially among younger adults. Morbidly obese die 10-15 years

earlier than normal weight persons, and up to 22 years earlier if obese in early

life.

Article sited: JAMA(Journal of the American Medical Association) Jan 2003

----- Original Message ----- From:

Do any of you have references about how WLS can impact our lifespan?

My hubby has asked me a couple of times if I am going to die younger

than normal since I have had WLS and I tell him no. Logically, you

would expect lifespan to increase since so many co-morbidities

improve or go away when we are no longer morbidly obese. However, I

have only seen statistics that address life span from a short term

perspective. Are there any articles or studies on long term WLS

patients?

[Guest guest]

I'm not aware of any research that looks at this issue via a longitudinal

clinical study, but here is an abstract of an analysis based on statistical

modeling. Its authors conclude that weight loss surgery (specifically the

RNY, but the analysis would apply to other procedures as well) is expected

to result in significantly increased life expectancy.

Honestly, I think this " study " isn't particularly convincing, since the

assumptions it relies upon may or may not be valid (I'm particularly

skeptical of the implied premise that losing weight will automatically cause

one's life expectancy to become equal to that of a person of the same weight

who has never been MO). However, it still might provide some useful support

for anyone who is trying to justify their WLS decision to a concerned

spouse, parent, etc.

I think the important point is that there is certainly no reason to think

that one's lifespan will be *decreased* by weight loss surgery. That's a

common " urban legend " propagated by certain size-acceptance activists, but

there is absolutely NO evidence to support that claim.

B. (Tally)

DS w/ Dr. Elariny - 6/18/02

267/249/148/135

pre-op/DS-day/current/goal

Current BMI: 24.3

***************************

1: J Am Coll Surg. 2003 Mar;196(3):379-84. Related Articles, Links

A comparison of diet and exercise therapy versus laparoscopic Roux-en-Y

gastric bypass surgery for morbid obesity: a decision analysis model.

EJ, Urbach DR, Swanstrom LL.

Department of Minimally Invasive Surgery, Legacy Health System, Portland,

OR, USA.

BACKGROUND: In the absence of randomized controlled trials that directly

compare medical versus surgical treatment of morbid obesity, decision

analysis is a useful tool to help determine the optimal treatment strategy.

Using decision analysis we simulated a trial comparing diet and exercise

therapy to laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery to determine which approach

resulted in longer life expectancy. STUDY DESIGN: A Markov decision analysis

model was constructed to evaluate survival after laparoscopic Roux-en-Y

gastric bypass surgery compared with a diet and exercise program for a

45-year-old woman with a body mass index (BMI) of 40 kg/m(2). Baseline

mortality data were derived from published tables of vital statistics, and

the relative risks of death associated with obesity (relative to normal

weight) were taken from epidemiologic studies. We assumed that successful

surgery resulted in a reduction of BMI to 30 kg/m(2). The baseline

assumptions were: an operative mortality of 0.4%; a probability of weight

loss after surgery of 80%; a rate of weight loss on a diet and exercise

program, 20% at two years; a rate of regain of lost weight, 95% at two

years; a relative risk of death for a BMI of 40 kg/m(2), 2.70; and a

relative risk of death for a BMI of 30 kg/m(2), 1.51. RESULTS: The

undiscounted life expectancy after surgery was 69.7 years compared with 67.3

years for a diet and exercise program (an absolute increase in life

expectancy of 2.4 years, a relative increase in life expectancy of 10.8%).

Sensitivity analyses assumed discounting at 5%/y, and showed that surgery

was associated with a longer expectation of life when the risk of operative

mortality was less than 10%, and when the probability of weight loss after

surgery was greater than 4%. CONCLUSIONS: In a decision analysis model,

laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery for morbid obesity was associated with a

substantially longer survival than diet and exercise therapy. Copyright 2003

by the American College of Surgeons

Lifespan Impact of WLS

> Do any of you have references about how WLS can impact our lifespan?

> My hubby has asked me a couple of times if I am going to die younger

> than normal since I have had WLS and I tell him no. Logically, you

> would expect lifespan to increase since so many co-morbidities

> improve or go away when we are no longer morbidly obese. However, I

> have only seen statistics that address life span from a short term

> perspective. Are there any articles or studies on long term WLS

> patients?

> Thanks!

> in Washington

> Lap RNY Sept 2001

> Minus 205 pounds

> 333.5/128

> http://www.wworw.com