| dallasnews.com | Your Health Matters
Bariatric surgeon Wade N. Barker, M.D. and his experienced staff are committed to helping patients take control of their health and improve their lives through weight loss. For obese patients who have been unable to reach a healthy weight through diet and exercise, we offer two highly effective weight loss surgery options: LAPAROSCOPIC GASTRIC BYPASS surgery and LAP BAND® surgery.Both have helped innumerable men and women achievedramatic, long-term results[+more] Vision Correction Surgery Since 1987, noted cornea specialist William A. Boothe, M.D., has brought the world into focus with more than 82,000 LASIK laser vision correction procedures. Dr. Boothe also continues to be the busiest IntraLASIK surgeon in the world, having now performed over 44,000 IntraLASIK procedures.
'Drastic' procedure got nurse off cycle of obesity
Surgical treatments touted as lifesavers for obese people are out of reach for Medicaid and Medicare patients in Hawaii. That's because the federal government won't cover bariatric surgeries, such as a gastric bypass, unless it is done at a facility designated as a Bariatric Center of Excellence. To get the designation, the facility must do 125 bariatric cases a year, and no hospital in the islands does that many. The requirement is preventing patients from treatment that one doctor says gives "them part of their life back." One health care professional who would agree with that assessment is Michelle Garson, an intensive care nurse at the Queen's Medical Center. Garson once weighed as much as 500 pounds but has lost about half her weight since gastric bypass in 2006.
NFL reinstates Williams from drug ban
DAVIE, Fla. (AP) Ricky Williams' suspension ended after more than 18 months when he was reinstated Wednesday by the NFL, and the winless Miami Dolphins might welcome him back. The 2002 league rushing champion was scheduled to fly to South Florida for a physical Thursday and meet with coach Cam Cameron, said Williams' agent, Leigh Steinberg. .
VIVUS Initiates Pivotal Phase 3 Trial In Obese Patients And Announces Qnexa Dose
VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ: VVUS), a pharmaceutical company dedicated to the development and commercialization of novel therapeutic products, today announced that it has initiated the first of two pivotal phase 3 studies of Qnexa in obese patients. The EQUIP study (OB-302) will enroll morbidly obese patients with Body Mass Index ("BMI") that equals or exceeds 35. The co-primary endpoints for these studies will evaluate the differences between treatments from baseline to the end of the treatment period, in mean percent weight loss and in the percentage of subjects achieving weight loss of 5% or more. All phase 3 studies will utilize the company's novel once-a-day formulation of Qnexa, which at full strength, contains 15 mg phentermine IR and 92 mg topiramate CR. PK/PD studies have confirmed that the once-a-day formulation is comparable to the twice-a-day formulation used in the phase 2 study.
Subway Guy shares his weight loss story in Southwest Florida
Subway spokesman Jared Fogle visited Shell Point last week to share his inspirational weight loss story. Nearly a decade ago the Indiana University graduate weighed a whopping 425 pounds but shed 245 pounds after subsisting on a year long diet of Subway sandwiches. The slimmed Indiana native took Shell Point�s Village Church stage wearing loose jeans and addressed the crowd of more than 180 people.
�My name is Jared Fogle,� he said. �I�m the guy on the national Subway TV commercial. What I really want to do today is share a little bit more about my story - how I became so heavy, what it was like to be that heavy and ultimately what it took to really want to turn my life around.�
Fogle retrieved from his backpack a 60-inch pair of relaxed fit jeans to illustrate his story.
Expanding market
The rising number of obese people and the health problems their weight problems generate have turned baratric surgery into a growth business, both locally and nationally. Baton Rouge General Medical Center recently established a bariatric services division, staffed by three doctors. Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center’s live Web cast of a weight-loss surgery procedure drew more than 800 online viewers, most of them local. Vista Surgical Hospital, the biggest player in the market, does more than 500 bariatric surgeries a year. "We wanted to move into the weight-management program, the weight-management realm for a couple of reasons," said Kurt Bennett, the General’s bariatrics coordinator. "One, obesity is growing, not only in this country, but specifically in southern Louisiana." The Baton Rouge area’s population is growing, in large part because of people moving from New Orleans, Bennett said.
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