Edward H. Livingston, MD, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, and contributing editor for the Journal of the American Medical Association, wrote in a JAMA editorial that BMI is not always an adequate indicator for bariatric surgery.
Certain types of weight gain, such as weight gain from overeating protein and truncal body fat, are not usually associated with adverse health effects. Dr. Livingston recommends that only patients with other weight-related complications should undergo bariatric surgery.
"In addition, given the advances in the understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying obesity, increasing evidence on the relationship between obesity and outcomes, and progress and refinements in surgical interventions for obesity, perhaps it is time for the National Institutes of Health to convene another expert panel to rigorously assess the available evidence and provide updated recommendations for bariatric procedures for the treatment of obesity," he wrote.
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Certain types of weight gain, such as weight gain from overeating protein and truncal body fat, are not usually associated with adverse health effects. Dr. Livingston recommends that only patients with other weight-related complications should undergo bariatric surgery.
"In addition, given the advances in the understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying obesity, increasing evidence on the relationship between obesity and outcomes, and progress and refinements in surgical interventions for obesity, perhaps it is time for the National Institutes of Health to convene another expert panel to rigorously assess the available evidence and provide updated recommendations for bariatric procedures for the treatment of obesity," he wrote.
Related Articles on Weight Loss Surgery:
Dr. Scott Cunneen Publishes Book on Weight Loss Surgery
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