SURGERY FOR LUNCH
Obese patients could be treated by weight-loss surgery that takes just an hour – and leaves no scars.
The usual method of reducing the size of the stomach – to cut food intake and encourage weight-loss – is to perform ‘open’ surgery on the abdomen.
This requires a major incision and is risky for obese patients, who are at greater risk from complications such as stroke or heart attack.
But now doctors can reduce the size of the stomach – by operating through the mouth.
In America, patients were discharged just a few hours later and the technique could soon arrive in Australia
The procedure involves putting a camera attached to a tube into the mouth and lowering it down the digestive tract into the stomach.
Mounted on the camera are instruments, including a needle which allows the surgeon to sew a series of pleats in the lining of the stomach to reduce its size.
DIET OR DIE
A grandfather has lost more than 10 stone in six months – by not eating.
Idris Lewis, 69, was told in January that if he did not lose 11 stone by the end of July, he would not be able to have an operation on his heart and could die within a year.
So he embarked on a diet of only mineral water and nutrient powder, which he bought from a chemist – and has eaten nothing since January.
The retired civil servant from Nailsea said: “It was a case of diet or die. I had no choice – I had to lose that weight.”
Mr Lewis suffers from a lung condition, and it was during a scan for that 18 months ago when doctors noticed a problem with a heart valve.
He said: “They monitored it for a while, and then in November told me I needed surgery but could not operate unless I lost weight. They put me on a diet but I didn’t get on too well. In January my surgeon said I needed to lose 11 stone.”
The grandfather of three was put on a course of Lipotrim, a powder which claims to provide the full range of nutrients your body needs
Mr Lewis’s GP haS monitored his progress weekly. He weighed 26st 12lb in January, but now only weighs 16st 5lb.
“It involves drinking up to six pints of water a day, and no other drink other than black coffee or tea,” said Mr Lewis. “Then I have the powder at lunchtime and in the evening with a glass of water. I have not slipped up, because I am so full from the water. I do fancy fish and chips every now and then, but not because I am hungry.
“I haven’t had a pint at the bar with my friends since January. It costs me £7 a day, so I am also saving money because I would have spent more than that on food and drink.”
Mr Lewis’s wife Muriel has not eaten in front of her husband for five and a half months so as not to tempt him into breaking his fast
SEE VIDEO http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8162750.stm
IT’S BACK. THE GRAPE FRUIT
The seventies diet sensation the grape fruit makes a return
The tart and tangy grapefruit has a juiciness which rivals that of the ever popular orange and sparkles with many of the same health promoting benefits.
And, now researchers are on track to develop a pill from a chemical compound in grapefruit, which they claim would help obese people shed the flab and diabetics control their blood sugar levels.
Researchers at University of Western Ontario have found that naringenin, the chemical compound that gives grapefruit its bitter taste, has revolutionary effect on the liver making it burn fat instead of storing it after a meal.
According to them, this means that without having to change diets or cut out particular foods, a dose of naringenin could prevent weight gain and even help to lose it as well as help those having diabetes to control blood sugar levels.
Lead researcher Murray Huff said: “The study shows naringenin, through its insulin-like properties, corrects many of the metabolic disturbances linked to insulin resistance and represents a promising approach for metabolic syndrome.”
They have based their findings on an analysis of tests which were carried out on mice — two groups of rodents were both fed the equivalent of a Western diet to speed up their “metabolic syndrome”, the process leading to Type 2 diabetes
AUSSIE STUDY FINDS OBESITY LINK
DIABETES AND OBESITY
The team, led by Associate Professor Matthew Watt at Monash University, discovered that fat cells release a novel protein called PEDF (pigment epithelium-derived factor), which triggers a chain of events and interactions that lead to development of Type 2 diabetes.
When PEDF is released into the bloodstream, it causes the muscle and liver to become desensitized to insulin. The pancreas then produces more insulin to counteract these negative effects. This insulin release causes the pancreas to become overworked, eventually slowing or stopping insulin release from the pancreas, leading to Type 2 diabetes.
“It appears that the more fat tissue a person has the less sensitive they become to insulin. Therefore a greater amount of insulin is required to maintain the body’s regulation of blood-glucose,” Watt said.
“Our research was able to show that increasing PEDF not only causes Type 2 diabetes like complications but that blocking PEDF reverses these effects. The body again returned to being insulin-sensitive and therefore did not need excess insulin to remain regulated.”
Watt said identifying the link is a significant breakthrough in explaining the reasons why obesity triggers the onset of Type 2 Diabetes.
“Until now scientists knew there was a very clear pattern and had strong suspicions that a link existed between the two conditions, but our understanding of the chain of events that are caused by the release of PEDF shows a causal link,” Watt said.
“Type 2 diabetes patients will benefit knowing the two conditions are linked. We already know that weight-loss generally improves the management of blood glucose levels in diabetes patients. Researchers can now move forward knowing this link exists and we can begin to design new drugs to improve the treatment of Type 2 diabetes,” Watt said.
WEIGHT-LOSS HELPS PREGNANCY
Obese women who lose even a small amount of weight may boost their chances of getting pregnant, a study suggests.
Researchers carried out a three-month study of 40 obese women who were not ovulating.
They found a 5% loss in body weight was linked with a 19% increase in blood flow to the womb.
Improved circulation can help trigger the egg release from the ovaries and may help an embryo implant in the womb.
However, the researchers from the University of Sheffield said more work was needed to determine how the finding translates to actual pregnancy rates.
. Women in the study, most of whom had polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), were around 29 years old on average and had a body mass index of almost 40, delegates at the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) heard.
They were prescribed weight loss drugs orlistat or metformin and managed to lose 5% of their body weight in 12 weeks.
Previous work by the team had shown small amounts of weight loss were related to a 30-40% chance of ovulation returning in these patients.
But this is the first study looking at how blood flow is involved.
The researchers said that the increased blood flow acted as a “switch” to kick start the ovary.
Levels of the male hormone testosterone – high concentrations of which are found in PCOS patients – also fell as blood flow improved, which would also boost a woman’s chances of conceiving naturally.
The findings also raise the possibility for looking into whether a drug that improves the flow of blood to the womb could help women get pregnant.
Women with PCOS, which is one of the most common causes of infertility, tend to put on weight because of their condition and struggle more than other women to lose it through diet and exercise.
Dr Daghni Rajasingam, spokeswoman for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said the findings were interesting but the key was whether the improved blood flow ended up with a successful pregnancy.
She stressed that infertility was just one of problems which obese women who wanted a child faced.
Even if they succeeded in getting pregnant, their risk of complications was much higher, and their chances of getting to full term lower.
She said: “Being as close as possible to your ideal body weight would be a good thing for all aspects
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