MDNews - Greater Boston

W HILE SOME INDIVIDUALS do succes sf u l ly she d large amounts of weight through traditional means and keep it off indefi nitely, they are a distinct minority. How are physicians tailoring advice to patients who will not successfully lose weight via methods such as diet, exercise, counseling and anti-obesity drugs? And are patients obtaining the coverage they need to pay for bariatric procedures? Recent studies show that modest weight loss in the long term may be possible through traditional means, but the data are uninspiring: + A study in The American Journal of Medicine found that obese individuals could lose approximately 4–9 percent of their body weight and keep it off up to four years with the help of sustained interventions provided by the research program. + The American Journal of Preventive Medicine reported on a similar study: Subjects in the National Weight Control Registry could sustain weight loss of approximately 10 percent for up to 10 years. For people who need to lose sig- nifi cantly more weight or those who are incapable of or resistant to submitting to intensive interventions, these fi ndings may be disheartening. Meanwhile, other studies have shown a high proportion — four-fi fths or more — of dieters are not successful, and even the remaining 20 percent may regain their modest losses after a year. One meta-analysis found that recidivism rates for morbidly obese PATIENTS ARE READING HEADLINES SUCH AS, "OBESITY RESEARCH CONFIRMS LONG-TERM WEIGHT LOSS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE," BUT WHAT MESSAGES ARE THEY RECEIVING FROM PHYSICIANS AND INSURANCE COMPANIES? According to National Bariatric Link, an advocacy organization, in a six-year study, almost a third of patients who met insurers' medical criteria to have a weight-loss procedure covered were denied coverage. In an Increasingly Bariatric Surgery Comes into Its Own By Jennifer Webster 1 2 | Greater Boston MD NEWS ■ M D N E W S . CO M

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