Belief that intentional weight loss is harmful to seniors is unfounded

Winston-Salem, NC – A new study by researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is the first to refute the widely held belief that intentional weight loss in older adults leads to increased risk of death.

In fact, the research shows that seniors who intentionally exercised and/or modified their diets to lose weight were half as likely to die within eight years of follow-up as their peers who did not work toward weight loss, said M. Kyla Shea, Ph.D., first author on the study and a research associate in the Department of Internal Medicine, Section on Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine.

“It was an unusually strong and surprising finding,” Shea said. “Our data suggest that people should not be concerned about trying or recommending weight loss to address obesity-related health problems in older adults.”

The study, funded by the National Institute on Aging, is currently available online and is schedule to appear in a future print issue of the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences.

Prior to this study, research that has looked at the association between mortality and weight loss has not factored in the many different potential causes of the weight loss. So, using a more rigorous randomized trial approach, Shea and colleagues sought to prove or disprove the idea that older individuals who actively tried to lose weight increased their risk of death.

Read the rest of this entry »

New Study May Explain How Weight-loss Surgery Reverses Type 2 Diabetes

California – A team of researchers, led by a UC Davis veterinary endocrinologist, has shown for the first time that a surgical procedure in rats that is similar to bariatric surgery in humans can delay the onset of type 2 diabetes. The researchers also have identified biochemical changes caused by the surgeries that may be responsible for that delay.

Findings from the study, published online in the journal Gastroenterology, should help researchers identify strategies for preventing and treating type 2 diabetes, a chronic condition in which the body is unable to properly metabolize sugar and fat, leading to serious complications including heart disease, blindness and kidney failure.

Type 2 diabetes affects more than 21 million people in the United States, where it results in more than $150 billion in direct and indirect annual costs, according to the National Institutes of Health.

“Bariatric surgery currently is considered to be the most effective long-term treatment for human obesity and often leads to marked improvements in diabetes,” said the study’s lead author Peter Havel, a professor with joint appointments in the School of Veterinary Medicine and Department of Nutrition.

“It has been thought that reduction of blood sugar, which indicates a reversal of type 2 diabetes, in patients following bariatric surgery was due to post-surgery weight loss,” Havel said. “This study, however, supports the observations from a number of earlier clinical studies reporting that diabetes is often improved prior to substantial weight loss. It also suggests that endocrine changes in hormones produced by the gastrointestinal tract may contribute to the early effects of bariatric surgery, in addition to the later effects of weight loss.”

“This study confirms our clinical observations that metabolic regulation — specifically homeostasis of glucose — occurs quickly after gastric bypass surgery,” said Mohamed Ali, an associate professor of gastrointestinal surgery and a specialist in bariatric surgery at UC Davis Health System. “It’s clear from the outcome that something physiologic is at work with controlling diabetes that is not related to weight loss.

Read the rest of this entry »

A Sporting Chance for Active Total Knee Replacement Patients

Study finds implant durability not affected by high-impact sports participation

New Orleans, LA – Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) patients may be able to participate in high-impact sports without increasing risk of early implant failure, according to a new study presented at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS). In addition, the authors observed better clinical scores in the group of patients who participated in activities discouraged by the Knee Society (KS) than those of the control group.

The Knee Society recommends TKA patients avoid activities that cause high stress loads on the implant and may increase the risk of early failure. Such activities include high-impact aerobics, football, soccer, baseball, basketball, jogging and power lifting, among others.

“Recent studies have shown that as many as one in six total knee replacement patients participate in non-recommended activities,” said Sebastian Parratte, M.D., PhD, an orthopaedic surgeon from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN and the Aix-Marseille University, Center for Arthritis Surgery, Hospital Sainte-Marguerite in Marseille, France. “This study offers some reassurance to those patients who choose to return to an active lifestyle after surgery.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Surgeons Use Neck Muscle, Surrounding Tissue as Lip Implant

Chicago — Augmenting the lips with grafts of muscle and connective tissue from the neck appears to result in improved appearance for at least two years, according to a report in the March/April issue of Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

“Since ancient times, women have used plant dyes and colored clays to enhance their lips,” the authors write as background information in the article. As an individual ages, the groove on the upper lip flattens, the white lip lengthens and the amount of vermilion (pink tissue) that shows decreases. “These progressive age-related changes lead many patients to seek lip augmentation procedures, often as their main concern in the midst of an aging face and neck.”

“The quest for the ideal permanent lip augmentation procedure has been fraught with challenges,” they continue, including resorption, asymmetry, reactions, extrusion, an unnatural feel or appearance and the formation of cysts. Anurag Agarwal, M.D., of The Aesthetic Surgery Center, Naples, Fla., and colleagues report on the results of 25 consecutive patients who underwent lip augmentation with segments of their own sternocleidomastoid, a muscle running along the side of the neck, and the connective tissue that overlies it (fascia).

Read the rest of this entry »

Tratamientos contra la Obesidad

¿La obesidad es una enfermedad?
Los médicos entendemos a la obesidad como una enfermedad crónica progresiva y recurrente. Por lo tanto, la tendencia a aumentar de peso estará siempre presente, haciendo que el exceso de peso sea cada vez mayor. Esto explica porqué es difícil que los resultados sean duraderos si no se cambia para siempre el hábito de alimentarse.

¿Cómo evoluciona esta enfermedad?
A medida que el estado de salud se va deteriorando, la obesidad acarrea enfermedades tales como la hipertensión arterial, diabetes aumento del colesterol, dificultades respiratorias, artrosis, etc., que deterioran el estado de salud. Esto hace que cada día las personas se vean más limitadas para llevar una vida normal.

¿Por qué es importante bajar de peso?
Los beneficios de bajar de peso se relacionan con la desaparición de las enfermedades ya descriptas, que surgen como consecuencia de la obesidad. Esto significa que al bajar de peso, disminuyen los riesgos asociados a la obesidad, aumenta la expectativa de vida y las personas pueden reinsertarse a la sociedad.

¿Cuáles son los condicionantes de la obesidad?
El sobrepeso y la obesidad dependen del equilibrio entre factores del medio ambiente, la situación psicológica y características genéticas individuales.

La nutrición adecuada:
Los nutrientes son los factores más importantes del medio ambiente sobre los cuales podemos influir. Por esto, es necesario modificar nuestros hábitos hacia una alimentación sana. Para lograrlo es preciso evaluar el estado nutricional de cada persona y los factores de riesgo que presenta. Solo así es posible prescribir un plan alimentario personalizado acorde a requerimientos individuales que el paciente deberá aprender e incorporar para toda la vida.

Los factores psicológicos:
La existencia de múltiples factores tales como la ansiedad, depresión, inseguridad, stress, fobias, etc., contribuyen la aparición de la obesidad y condicionan su progresión en el tiempo. Por este motivo, los índices de descenso de peso son menores en los pacientes que no atienden estos condicionantes. Es posible mejorar estos aspectos a través de terapias individuales y grupos psicoeducativos o de reflexión con orientación y asesoramiento familiar.

Indice de Masa Corporal

Read the rest of this entry »

Curso/Posgrado de Medicina de la Reproduccion en Cordoba, Argentina

El curso anual de Medicina de la Reproducción de la Sociedad de Obstetricia y Ginecología de Córdoba, dirigido por el Dr. Gustavo Gallardo, comienza el 17 de abril y será dictado durante el año lectivo exclusivamente los días sábados por la mañana. El curso está destinado a médicos ginecólogos, obstetras, endocrinólogos, urólogos, biólogos, bioquímicos, interesados en actualizar conceptos sobre medicina reproductiva.

Director: Dr Gustavo Gallardo
Carga Horaria: 30 horas
Lugar: Hospital Nacional de Clinicas. Cátedra I de Ginecologia
Informes e Inscripción:
- Maria Teresa Nievas: (0351) 152-739999
- Marcela Zitta: (0351)155-434929
- medicinareproductiva@hotmail.com

Temario:

- Fisiologia de la reproduccion masculina y femenina.
- Epidemiologia, importancia, evolution de las estadisticas, etiologias más frecuentes.
- Factor masculino: clínica y tratamiento. Laboratorio de andrologia.
- Factor ovarico: reserva ovarica, estimulacion de la ovulacion, ovodonacion.
- Factor endocrino: Anovulacion, Hiperandrogenismos, Prolactina, Tiroides Poliquistosis Ovarica.
- Factor tubo peritoneal. Laparascopia, Histeroscopia, Endometriosis, Implantacion.
- Diagnostico por imagenes en reproduccion, Genetica.
- El laboratorio de Reproduccion Asistida.
- Diagnostico preimplantacional.
- Criopreservacion.
- Futuro de la Fertilizacion Asistida.
- Reproduccion Asistida de baja complejidad.
- Reproduccion Asistida de alta complejidad, FIV – ICSI.
- Reproduccion en el paciente oncologica.
- Preservacion de la fertilidad.
- Infecciones y Reproduccion.
- Parejas HIV (+).
- Esterilidad sin causa aparente.
- Aborto recurrente: Fisiopatologia – Esquemas Diagnosticos – Opciones Terapeuticas.

Knee Replacement in Elderly Patients Shown to Improve Balance

Multiple benefits to surgery reported for patients with advanced osteoarthritis

New Orleans, LA – Total knee replacement (TKR) successfully relieves pain and improves function in patients with advanced knee arthritis, according to a study presented today at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS). The surgery also significantly improves dynamic balance among elderly patients.

Impaired balance and increased tendency to fall are common complaints among the elderly suffering from severe osteoarthritis (worn cartilage). The purpose of the study was to determine whether TKR had any effects on balance measures, in correlation with functional balance and quality of life. This is especially important because falls are the leading cause of injury for senior adults in the U.S., and hip fractures that result from falls can be lethal for elderly patients.

“Balance is critical to the elderly, especially those with knee problems. This study reinforced our hypothesis about how an osteoarthritic patient’s function is compromised not only due to pain, but also by balance,” said Leonid Kandel, MD, study author and orthopaedic surgeon, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Hadassah Mount Scopus Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel.

The study examined 63 patients, with a mean age of 73, who had total knee replacements and participated in follow-up evaluations after one year. The study measured accurately static and dynamic balance with a new computerized system called the Balance Master. The study found:

Read the rest of this entry »

More than 17 million cosmetic procedures performed last year in USA

Chicago – A procedural survey conducted by the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery says more than 17 million cosmetic surgery procedures were performed in the United States in 2009.

The total number of procedures from this first-time study far surpasses any number that has previously been reported in the U.S. This is the first nationwide survey of its kind done by the AACS. In addition to the annual polling of its own members, the AACS also surveyed random physicians across the country to find out who is performing cosmetic surgery procedures.

The total number of procedures performed by AACS members has increased by eight percent since 2008.

“The cosmetic surgery industry continues to grow at a rate many people never thought it would reach,” said AACS President Mark Berman, MD. “With the aging of the baby boomer generation, I don’t think we’ve come close to hitting the ceiling yet. That 17 million is only going to expand.”

Among AACS member practices, the biggest increase in invasive procedures in the last five years are in blepharoplasty (eyelid lift), abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) and rhinoplasty (nose). For less-invasive procedures, the biggest increase over that five-year period is in laser resurfacing, chemical peels and fillers.

For AACS members, rhinoplasty surgeries jumped from 12,460 in 2008 to 21,730 in 2009, a 74 percent increase. Facelifts were also up this year, from 20,478 in ’08 to 34,455 in ’09, a 44 percent spike.

“As the economy recovers slowly but surely, we are seeing patients come back and feel better about doing some things for themselves that maybe they’d been putting off for a while,” Berman said.

Feel free to contact us for more information about cosmetic surgery procedures in Argentina.