http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/357217p-304286c.html
Death's fat chance
By PAUL H.B. SHIN
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
The number of stomach-shrinking operations for the severely obese has
skyrocketed in recent years, partly fueled by extreme makeovers of
once-portly celebrities such as weatherman Al Roker, singer Carnie
Wilson and "American Idol" judge Randy Jackson.
But these surgeries are riskier than previously thought - especially
for the elderly and those suffering from heart disease - with nearly
1 in 20 Medicare patients dying within the first year after the
surgery, a new study shows.
Previous reports from a limited number of surgeons have suggested the
risk of death was about 1 in 100 to 1 in 500.
But the new study looked at more than 16,000 patients who received
procedures while on Medicare - federal insurance for the elderly and
disabled.
"Patients aged 65 or older face a nearly three-fold increase in the
risk of early mortality," said lead researcher Dr. David Flum of the
University of Washington.
Flum also found that men are nearly twice as likely to die following
such procedures - known as bariatric surgery - as opposed to women.
And the surgeon's experience dramatically affects survival, according
to research in today's Journal of the American Medical Association.
The study also found that more than 5% of men and nearly 3% of women
ages 35 to 44 were dead within a year. And slightly higher rates were
found in patients 45 to 54.
"This is very valuable information," said Dr. Christine Ren, director
of the Program for Surgical Weight Loss at NYU Medical Center. "All the
numbers that we've know before were from selected surgeons or
institutions with good results." Ren's center performs the largest
number of "gastric banding" operations in the U.S. - a reversible
procedure where a band is placed around the stomach to reduce its size.
In Washington State, for example, patients whose surgeons had performed
fewer than 20 procedures were nearly five times as likely to die within
30 days after the operation.
"It is clear that this is complicated surgery. It's also clear that
with any complicated surgery the experience of the surgeon is key,"
said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), who has lost 103 pounds since his
high-profile gastric bypass in August 2002.
Despite the greater risk than previously thought, both Ren and Flum
agreed that bariatric surgery can be a safe and effective tool for the
morbidly obese, who face serious health problems if they don't lose
weight.
A separate study in the same journal showed that the number of
bariatric surgeries in the U.S. has ballooned from 13,365 in 1998 to
72,177 in 2002. The study, led by Dr. Heena Santry of the University of
Chicago, projected the number would skyrocket to 218,000 by 2010.
Anti-obesity shot in the works
Babies could one day get a vaccine to keep them from getting fat,
researchers said yesterday.
That's because obese people have been found to have a certain virus
more often than people of normal weight, Agence France-Press reported.
If the viral infection is indeed one of the causes of obesity, the
researchers said a vaccine could be created to battle it, according to
the French press agency.
The research was presented yesterday in Canada at a conference of the
Obesity Society, a Maryland-based medical organization.
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TC