Severe obesity is increasingly recognized as a serious medical problem.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), during the past 20 years, there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States and rates remain high. More than one-third of U.S. adults (35.7%) and approximately 17% (or 12.5 million) of children and adolescents aged 2-19 years are obese.
At St. Rose Dominican Hospitals-Rose de Lima Campus, Dr. Thomas Umbach is providing bariatric, or gastric bypass, surgery. Gastric bypass surgery can be a successful solution for seriously overweight individuals who are more than 100 pounds above their medically recommended weight. Many such individuals have health risk factors associated with serious obesity including high blood pressure, heart problems, diabetes, shortness of breath, depression , back and joint pain.
Gastric bypass is considered major surgery. It reduces the stomach from the size of a large grapefruit to the size of a golf ball in order to decrease the amount of food the stomach can hold. At the same time, the small intestine is reconfigured so food bypasses the first and second segment of the intestines, reducing the number of calories that the body can absorb.
On average, gastric bypass patients lose around 100 pounds and keep the weight off from 10 to 14 years. Clinical research has shown that this weight loss can lead to significant health improvement among many gastric bypass patients.
All patients who undergo bariatric surgery at St. Rose will have a psychological evaluation to determine their psychological stability and ability to accept lifestyle modifications. Pre- and post-surgical education, support groups and lifestyle modification classes are offered through the hospital and The Barbara Greenspun WomensCare Centers of Excellence.
To learn more about our bariatric options at St. Rose Dominican Hospitals, please call 702.616.4900.
(Rev. 1/17/13).
