Bariatric surgery saves lives, improves quality of life and cures, reduces risk or prevents over 30 diseases and conditions, including some cancers. Study after study shows that weight loss surgery is the most effective way for obese and morbidly obese adults to lose weight safely and effectively.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnly 5 percent of traditional weight loss methods achieve long term success for people who are between 75 and 100 pounds overweight,\u201d says Rohit A. Patel, MD, FACS<\/a>, Director, Cooper Center for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery<\/a> and Head, Division of Bariatric Surgery. \u201cBariatric surgery is a tool we use along with a multidisciplinary team of experts to help patients lose massive amounts of weight and keep it off.\u201d<\/p>\n LAGB, RYGB and VSG Available at Cooper<\/strong><\/p>\n Cooper\u2019s new Center for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery offers patients the three most popular and successful weight loss procedures \u2013 Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Band (LAGB), Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass (RYGB), and Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy (VSG). Surgical weight loss procedures reduce the size of the stomach, restrict the amount of food a person can eat and, in some cases, change the patient\u2019s metabolism. Almost all procedures are performed using minimally invasive techniques<\/p>\n Dr. Patel and Dawn Stepnowski, DNP, APN-C, Associate Director, established the multidisciplinary center aftermcoming to Cooper from Temple University Health System\u2019s Jeanes Hospital.<\/p>\n Board certified in surgery and fellowship trained in bariatric surgery, Dr. Patel performed over 400 bariatric procedures priorto coming to Cooper. He currently is a Regular Member of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) and teaches the procedures to other surgeons.<\/p>\n Dr. Stepnowski has worked exclusively with bariatric patients for over a decade.<\/p>\n Changing Views on Patient\u00a0Selection\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Surgical weight loss is available for people who have a body mass index (BMI) over 40, or those who have a BMI over 35 and have medical problems such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and sleep apnea.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile bariatric surgeons continue to adhere to the protocols set forth by the NIH\u2019s 1991 consensus statement, there is a plethora of new data supporting that weight loss surgery is appropriate for people with lower BMIs,\u201d says Dr. Patel.<\/p>\n The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved gastric banding for people who have a BMI of 30 to 34.9 with at least one obesity-related condition. And, people who have obesity-related problems that interfere significantly with their work or life may also be eligible.<\/p>\n Most Insurers Cover Weight Loss Surgery<\/strong><\/p>\n Most major health insurance plans cover weight loss surgery. All require some form of documentation that demonstrates that non-surgical weight loss methods were attempted, yet not effective.<\/p>\n The Cooper Center for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery team works closely with patients and their physicians to make sure they meet the patient\u2019s health insurance documentation requirements.<\/p>\n A Lifelong\u00a0Commitment\u00a0to Cooper’s Patients\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The relationship patients have with the Cooper team continues long past surgery. Cooper\u2019s multidisciplinary team of experts work with each patient before and after surgery to help them maintain a healthy, nutritious diet and receive all,of the health care and support services they need. The team includes surgeons, advanced practice and specially trained nurses, behavioral health specialists, dietitians, exercise physiologists and patient advocates.<\/p>\n Cooper\u2019s Department of Surgery also has the expertise needed to treat patients with co-related surgical conditions \u2014 such as hernias, GERD and obstructive sleep apnea<\/p>\n BMI is the preferred way to determine how much an adult should weigh based on calculations involving height and weight. National Institutes of Health (NIH) research shows that a BMI between 20.0 and 24.9 is associated with the lowest risk of death in healthy, non-smoking adults.<\/p>\n One way to calculate BMI is to:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 Multiply the patient\u2019s weight in pounds by 703<\/p>\n \u2022 Divide that answer by their height in inches<\/p>\n \u2022 Divide that answer by their height in inches again<\/p>\n BMI Category<\/strong><\/p>\n Below 18.5 Underweight<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bariatric surgery saves lives, improves quality of life and cures, reduces risk or prevents over 30 diseases and conditions, including some cancers. Study after study shows that weight loss surgery is the most effective way for obese and morbidly obese adults to lose weight safely and effectively.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[113,112],"class_list":{"0":"entry","1":"post","2":"publish","3":"author-dzarnosky","4":"has-excerpt","5":"post-949","7":"format-standard","8":"category-featured","9":"category-news-updates","10":"post_tag-bariatric-surgery","11":"post_tag-cooper-center-for-metabolic-and-bariatric-surgery"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/sjmedicalreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/sjmedicalreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/sjmedicalreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/sjmedicalreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/sjmedicalreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=949"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/sjmedicalreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/949\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1614,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/sjmedicalreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/949\/revisions\/1614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/sjmedicalreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/sjmedicalreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/sjmedicalreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}