How much weight do Bariatric Treatment
Centers patients lose?
How much weight an individual Bariatric Treatment Centers patient loses
depends on a variety of factors -- their presurgery weight, their willingness
and ability to follow the nutritional programs postsurgery, their activity
levels, etc. The medical literature reports that average weight loss
is 40 to 75 percent of excess body weight. This correlates to 30 to
40 percent of initial weight.
Here are some average weight loss figures from the Bariatric Treatment
Centers program:
| |
Women |
Men |
All Patients |
| Before surgery |
| Average weight |
291 lbs. |
386 lbs. |
301 lbs. |
| Average excess weight |
156 lbs. |
223 lbs. |
163 lbs. |
6 weeks after surgery
patients typically lose an average of 20% of their excess weight
(range 10-30%) |
Average excess lost |
31 lbs. |
44 lbs. |
33 lbs. |
3 months after surgery
patients typically lose an average of 33% of their excess weight
(range 15-51%) |
Average excess lost |
51 lbs. |
74 lbs. |
54 lbs. |
12 months after surgery
patients typically lose an average of 67% of their excess weight
(range 36-99%) |
Average excess lost |
105 lbs. |
140 lbs. |
110 lbs. |
Note: Individual results of bariatric surgery and participation
in BTC's program will vary and depend on a number of factors including patient
compliance. See LEGAL.
Source: BTC internal data, 4/97.
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Reduction in health problems
While the primary benefit of surgery is durable weight loss and maintenance,
a number of health improvements are also associated with bariatric surgery,
as documented by the medical literature. They include:
Type II diabetes: Many patients (78%) find that their glucose tolerance
is normalized after surgery, and they no longer require medication for
diabetes.
Hypertension: 50% reduction in incidence and a decrease in medication
requirements.
Cardiovascular: Improvements in ventricular function, reductions in
myocardial wall thickness and chamber size, sustained normalization of
lipid profiles.
Obstructive sleep apnea and hypoventilation syndrome: Reduction in incidence
of apneic episodes in 70% and elimination in 40% of patients.
Benign intracranial hypertension: Improvement.
Quality of life: Increases in physical activity and sexual interest.
Economic: 45% of patients receiving disability or public assistance
returned to work.
Mortality: One study demonstrated a four-fold reduction in mortality
over six years in patients who underwent surgical treatment of obesity,
as compared with a control group who had been medically approved for surgery
but did not undergo the treatment. This group also demonstrated a marked
reduction in the progression of diabetes mellitus.
Source: Guidance for Treatment of Adult Obesity, pp. 60-61,
November 1996, Shape
Up America and the American Obesity Association.
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Improved outlook and lifestyle
Bariatric Treatment Centers patients report that one of the major results
of bariatric surgery is a change in their outlook on life and on their
ability to participate in the "normal" activities of life.
Here are some of their comments:
"My self-esteem has reversed itself 100%. I have never felt better.
I can do things I haven't been able to do in years. Things most people take
for granted. I can cross my legs. I can see my feet. I can get down on the
floor and play with my grandchildren or go up a flight of stairs without
dying." Ann Marie
"I am a new and improved Grandma, I run out of time before I run out
of energy." Judith
"I shop at normal hours and not at 3 a.m. so I won't be seen. I bought
some new clothes and began wearing make up and perfume again. I went swimming
for the first time in years and can honestly say I am happier than I have
been in a very long time... But the hope and courage returned to me cannot
be measured in so many lost pounds." Joan
"The surgery changed my life. It changed how I perceive me. The lovely
person that was hidden under all the fat now was emerging." Peggy
"As the weight continued to come off, my self-esteem skyrocketed. During
this time the small things amazed me. The first time that I realized that
when I was standing, my arms hung straight down instead of out and on at
angle really shocked me. I was thrilled to be able to cross my legs and
walk without pain." Bonnie
"I feel like now I actually have choices about what I want to do with
the rest of my life. I can change whatever I want to -- that I don't have
to just sit in our home like an invalid and let life pass me by. What a
good feeling again!!" Joyce
"People tell me I'm different now, but I don't think I'm different.
It's just that the real person I am was hidden under the layers of fat.
No one could look and see the real me." Carolyn (then 292 lbs. now
144 lbs.)
For more comments from Bariatric Treatment Centers patients see the
section What BTC Patients Say.
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