Diabetes Increases the Risk Of Infection, Even Coronavirus

The number of pre-diabetic and diabetic patients has increased dramatically over the past few decades. Today about 13% of the US population over 18 has diagnosed or undiagnosed diabetes. The primary reason for this has been an exceptional growth in obesity. While we typically discuss diabetes as a significant risk factor for a number of long-term and chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease, now, more than ever the effect diabetes has on the immune system needs to be emphasized.

Continue reading

Does Sunlight Help Prevent Respiratory Infections Like COVID-19?

With dozens of do it yourself prevention tips and cures circulating around the Internet, it can get overwhelming to know what works and what doesn’t. One common, but flawed, theory circulating during the height of the Coronavirus outbreak is that of going outside in the sunshine to kill the virus. This advice comes from the fact that sunshine does seem to have various antibacterial properties.

On the face of it, the idea that sunshine would in any way prevent a respiratory infection, might seem silly, but there may be some truth to it. In fact, around the world, in the absence of antibacterial agents, water can be left in sunlight (for hours) with disinfectant results. But how does this apply to our current situation? As it relates to the Coronavirus, not a whole lot, as these properties are limited to waterborne pathogens.

Continue reading

Managing Stress Eating During the Coronavirus Outbreak

It may be one of the last things on your mind, but during stressful times such as these, we tend to find comfort in the familiar. Our lives have been affected, in many cases, to such a degree that going back to old habits becomes easy. For those suffering from excess weight or who had bariatric surgery, this may mean eating during times of extreme stress. After all, for years, or even decades, eating was our way of coping. Our bodies are very good at remembering those feelings and sensations, despite how destructive those actions were to our health.

While we can tell ourselves that we deserve to indulge a little bit more during these crazy times, the weight can pile on pretty quickly and put us in a position where it is difficult to turn around. Unfortunately, as we all know, it is much easier to put on weight than eliminate it.

Continue reading

Am I at High Risk for Getting Coronavirus COVID-19?

The Centers for Disease Control or CDC states:

Early information out of China, where COVID-19 first started, shows that some people are at higher risk of getting very sick from this illness. This includes:

• Older adults
• People who have serious chronic medical conditions like:
  • Heart disease
  • Diabetes
  • Lung disease

Continue reading

Comparing the Gastric Sleeve to the Gastric Bypass – Which Is Better?

Patients considering bariatric surgery often wonder whether the gastric bypass or the gastric sleeve is a better option for them. First, it is important to mention that I can’t offer any concrete advice without meeting you in person and going over your medical records and previous diagnoses. However, as the bariatric landscape has broadened with new procedures and techniques, we are coming to some very interesting conclusions about which procedures are best for certain patients.

Continue reading

What You Can Do to Minimize the Risks of Surgery

Any surgical procedure has risks associated with it. You are putting trust in your physicians to place you under anesthetic, and to incise your skin and organs, remove things from your body, place things into your body, and perform any number of maneuvers to help better your health. But with these, comes the risk of bleeding, infection, injury to your body, and even death.

Continue reading

Is It Possible to Prevent A Hernia?

With almost 1,000,000 surgical repairs every year in the United States, hernias are an extremely common condition affecting Americans. However, hernias are only repaired when they become symptomatic, so we can extrapolate that many millions more have hernias that they don’t even know about. But, is it possible to avoid a hernia altogether?

The short answer is, in most cases, not really. But there’s a lot we can do to delay it and minimize the risk of worsening one that already exists.

Continue reading

Will the LINX Reflux Treatment Implant Go the Way of the Lap-Band?

The LINX Reflux management system has become one of the primary curative options for chronic acid reflux patients that have not responded well to medical therapy including antacids and acid blocking medication (PPIs). Of course, as with any surgical intervention, there are benefits and risks. The LINX Reflux management system, while appropriate for many patients, does have considerations that must be explored.

Continue reading

The Food and Diet Industries Compete for Your Attention – And What To Do?

It isn’t just the food industry trying to catch your attention with low-fat, low-sugar or other miracle-fix promises. How many people pick up that grocery store checkout magazine with the newest fad diet on the front cover? Come to think of it, almost all our magazines, social media site and online blogs are shouting with confidence that the way to a trim body and perfect life are through the maze of one fad diet to the next. This topic was discussed recently at one of our online support groups on Facebook. The competition over your attention between the food and diet industries makes for a very confusing relationship with how we eat.

Continue reading

How to Maintain and Build Muscle After Gastric Sleeve

A very real and common challenge for postoperative gastric sleeve patients is building muscle. Firstly, this challenge may come with age — muscle tone decreases and as anyone over the age of 40 knows, it becomes more challenging to build muscle. Second, because of excess weight, most patients have not exercised properly in years. This can often mean that muscles have atrophied due to underuse. Lastly, patients will be consuming far less food than they did previously, which makes fewer calories available for burning during vigorous exercise.

While it may seem like a struggle, the gastric sleeve, and bariatric surgery in general, actually offers the opportunity to build muscle more efficiently than if the patient were pursuing a diet and exercise regimen alone.

Continue reading