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Comprehensive Weight Loss Center
Weight Management Clinics (Endocrinology)The Weight Management Clinics offer a variety of individualized obesity management plans. The focus is on basic weight management strategies, management of other health conditions and a comprehensive approach involving education, tools and guidance.
The first step is an intensive evaluation by an endocrinologist, after which patients are followed by other specialists – with consistent oversight by the endocrinologist. The treatment period ranges from one to three years, depending on patients’ degree of motivation and concurrent health conditions.
The team of specialists (which also includes a dietitian, exercise physiologist, physical therapist and behavioral therapist or psychologist) conducts a complete medical, dietary and activity history to uncover factors that may have contributed to weight gain. Looking beyond obesity itself, the team screens for complications of obesity such as hypertension, diabetes, cholesterol problems and sleep apnea. If these conditions are present, the team treats them as well.
Depending on the results of the evaluation, the physician and patient work together to establish weight loss goals. Each patient receives a personalized treatment plan that tackles weight loss from a number of different angles.
Bariatric Surgery ProgramObesity is often associated with a wide range of medical problems, including high blood pressure, heart problems, diabetes, sleep apnea, depression and arthritis. For many people who are severely overweight, surgical treatment is the only proven method to achieve the long-term weight control required to improve overall health and enable them to perform normal activities.
Bariatric surgery remains the most effective means of achieving weight loss. Maximum weight loss is observed around one year, resulting in a 38 percent decrease for gastric bypass and a 21 percent decrease for gastric banding. At 10 years of follow-up, weight loss remains decreased by 25 percent for gastric bypass and 13 percent for gastric banding.
Bariatric surgery, however, is not for everyone. For some, the stigma or complications of surgery are deemed unacceptable. For others, health insurance coverage is unavailable or eligibility criteria cannot be fulfilled.
While weight loss surgery can help a person look better, the health benefits are also substantial. Bariatric surgery helps obese people overcome many serious diseases, including diabetes. It also reverses high cholesterol, helps control high blood pressure and stops the progression of joint disease. Other conditions that improve after the surgery include heart disease and sleep apnea. Because it reverses many chronic illnesses, weight loss surgery is a cost-effective procedure. For many people, weight loss surgery is the only way to overcome obesity. With dieting and exercise, you may lose up to 10 percent of your body weight — if you are rigorous— for a short time. With weight loss surgery, you can lose 30 percent to 40 percent of your weight and keep it off for life.
The Bariatric Surgery Program at Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin offers a multidisciplinary, highly-skilled team which includes surgeons, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, dietitians, psychologists and physical therapists. The program provides patients with life-long, post-surgical support to make sure they achieve and maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle. The Bariatric Surgery Program and its director, James R. Wallace, MD, PhD, have received the bariatric surgery “Center of Excellence” designation by the American Society for Bariatric Surgery and have also earned the designation Blue Distinction CenterSM by Blue Cross Blue Shield.
Last Review Date: Feb. 15, 2010 Online Editor(s): Richard Petre |
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