How to Choose
When weighing different choices to assist with weight loss, keep in mind that you always have the option to do nothing. Zero treatment, however, tends to have zero results. Another option is to continue diet and exercise or begin a medical weight loss program. An important part of any medical weight loss program is to screen for disorders that may be contributing to obesity such as hypothyroidism and Cushing’s disease. At Synchrony Health Chicago we screen for proven causes of obesity and other medical disorders before offering surgical intervention. We also understand that many people suffering from obesity have abnormal appetite mechanisms and their bodies are very efficient at storing calories. Skinny people do not have this physiology. We all know skinny people who don’t eat right and don’t exercise but they don’t become obese.
It has been shown that if you are more than one hundred pounds overweight, many patients regain all lost weight and often more over the long-term. Dieting can be associated with depression, anxiety, irritability, weakness and preoccupation with food. Many patients will repeatedly lose and regain weight (yo-yo), which is actually not healthy for your body.
Some people find success with medical weight loss programs. Some people find their success with surgical weight loss. Synchrony Health Chicago offers both so one place is all you need to achieve success at a healthy weight.
Typically patients who consider surgery are tired of losing and regaining weight and just can’t face another diet program. They want a powerful tool to help them succeed. Most people have tried everything by the time they consider surgery.
On the surgery side, there are many important distinctions between laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding and gastric bypass surgery. Synchrony Health Chicago does not offer gastric bypass. If you look at the common complications of weight loss surgery, the gastric band (LAP-BAND, REALIZE band) is much safer. Many complications related to the gastric bypass do not exist with the gastric band. Gastric bypass complications are common, severe and can result in death or long-term disability. Band complications are rare, minor and easily fixed as an outpatient procedure in most cases.
When surgeons and healthcare workers have bariatric surgery themselves, most of them choose gastric banding (LAP-BAND, REALIZE band) over the bypass. Most have professional knowledge of the risks associated with gastric bypass. Often after witnessing patients die or have serious complications from gastric bypass, they tend to steer away from the procedure and choose gastric banding instead. This speaks to the differences in the risks between the two procedures.
When one of our patients struggled with the decision between gastric band and bypass, we advised her to go to the support groups and talk to patients who had actually had the procedures. She came back from that experience and decided to have a band. When asked why, she told us that the bypass patients looked ill. She didn’t like the way their skin and hair looked. She said the band patients looked healthy and happy. Many of our patients say they would rather stay obese than risk having a gastric bypass. When band patients reach their healthy weight, they are healthy. When bypass patients reach their healthy weight, they still have a chronic disease called malabsorption.
If you are serious about losing weight, before embarking on a weight loss program, it is important to make sure that the excess weight is not due to a medical condition; for example a person’s metabolism may be too efficient at absorbing food nutrients and storing it as fat. Also, certain medications such as anti-depressants and steroids may lead to weight gain. Our Bariatrician evaluates the common problems such as hyperlipidemia, diabetes, sleep apnea, but also evaluates rarer obesity-related illnesses such as insulin resistance, infertility, breast and colon cancers. There are also many other lesser known complications such as acanthos nigrans, pickwickian syndrome, and pseudo-tumorcerebri which we are careful to watch for. While some of these conditions are simply uncomfortable, the complications may be quite serious, including premature death.
A comprehensive approach is needed to evaluate and treat obesity through medical, medicinal, behavioral, nutritional, exertional and surgical means. A thorough medical evaluation that includes history and physical, laboratory testing, and physiologic testing help our patients determine whether there is a medical cause of their obesity and to formulate the ideal course of treatment for each patient. At Synchrony Health Chicago your comprehensive evaluation not only includes a full medical evaluation but goes well beyond that by evaluating insulin resistance, LDL sub-fractionization, and intra-arterial inflammatory markers to start. Then, your Synchrony program also excels to further evaluate your basal metabolic rate and defining your anaerobic threshold using sub-V02 max testing, body composition through biometry, and physical activity monitoring.
More importantly, we not only start with these parameters, but constantly monitor your progress and adapt your program throughout your weight loss progress.
Synchrony Health Chicago understands that the degree to which a person needs psychological support to help them achieve a healthy weight varies. Therefore, we offer several levels of support:
Calorie burning is an integral part of any healthy weight program. The more calories you burn the faster you will reach your healthy weight and the more you’ll be able to eat in the process. Because the mobility of our patients ranges from those that require a wheelchair or scooter to get around to the very active, Synchrony Health Chicago uses mobility specialists and a customized approach to help people maximize their calorie burning.
New Treatment for Failed Gastric Bypass
Synchrony Health Chicago is fortunate to have been chosen as one of the few centers in the United States to offer a new treatment for failed gastric bypass. Gastric bypass patients frequently regain some or all of their weight. This is due to dilation of the gastric pouch or stoma (the connection between the gastric pouch and the small intestine). In the past this was treated with risky, radical surgery performed through a large open abdominal incision. Some centers treat this by placing a gastric band around the failed pouch.
The new technology offered by Synchrony Health Chicago treats failed gastric bypass without surgery; instead, the procedure involves treating the dilated pouch or stoma from within using a cinching device to make the dilated pouch or stoma smaller. This is accomplished by a scope that is passed through the mouth – no incisions. To learn more contact Synchrony Health Chicago at 630-990-2440.