UT-Houston Surgeons Offer Obese Patients
New Tools to “REALIZE™” Weight Loss
HOUSTON—(Jan. 10, 2008)—Surgeons at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston are now offering a new system that is designed to help morbidly obese patients keep their New Year’s resolutions to lose weight and adopt a healthier lifestyle.
Erik Wilson, M.D., Terry Scarborough, M.D., and Sherman Yu, M.D., assistant professors in the Division of Minimally Invasive and Bariatric Surgery who are part of Minimally Invasive Surgeons of Texas, are the first in Houston to offer an interactive online program that helps patients track their weight-loss success after an adjustable gastric banding procedure.
The REALIZE ™ Adjustable Gastric Band by Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. works similarly to other lap-band procedures. During laparoscopic surgery, the surgeon uses the band to reduce the size of the stomach. This makes patients feel full sooner, helping them to control portion sizes when they eat. The band is adjustable, so depending on the patient’s needs after surgery, the physician can tighten or loosen it during routine office visits by injecting or withdrawing saline from the band through a port that is positioned underneath the skin.
Wilson said this banding procedure offers patients a safe, useful tool for shedding excess weight, and the Web-based component helps patients use the band to its fullest potential so they can reach their weight-loss goals and maintain the results.
The REALIZE mySUCCESS online tool, www.realizeband.com, is designed to help patients remain motivated so that the band can serve its intended purpose, allowing them to lose 1-2 pounds per week on average. At the time of surgery, patients who get the band also receive an access code to the Web site. This interactive tool helps patients develop long-term health goals and track their progress toward meeting those goals. Patients can chart their weight loss, document their nutrition and fitness and even upload photographs to help them visualize changes in their bodies.
The system allows patients and their physicians to monitor the weight-loss progress together, so that Wilson, Scarborough and Yu can intervene precisely when their patients need help to stay on track.
“The support patients will be able to receive from the intensive follow-up this online tool offers will optimize patient outcomes and help them maintain long-term weight loss,” Wilson said.
In a clinical trial that led to its FDA approval, REALIZE Band patients lost an average of 50 pounds or 40 percent of their excess body weight within the first year of surgery and maintained that weight loss over three years. More than one-third of patients lost 50 percent or more and about 10 percent lost 75 percent or more of their excess weight.
“I’m excited about this post-operative weight loss tool,” Scarborough said. “Following a diet regime is often the hardest thing for patients to do after surgery. This Web-based program is especially designed to meet each patient’s needs and help them remain motivated and on track. They can go in and use a tool that allows them to see what they’ll look like down the road when they have lost weight. That will be a real motivator. They’ll also be able to get nutrition and exercise advice when they need it the most.”
The REALIZE Band is intended for morbidly obese patients who have a body mass index of at least 35 and have failed other weight-reduction alternatives, such as supervised diet, exercise and behavior modification programs.
The UT surgeons are currently offering the REALIZE Band at Memorial Hermann – Texas Medical Center, Park Plaza Hospital and other Houston surgical facilities.
For an appointment with Wilson, Scarborough or Yu at the UT West Loop Health Center, 1776 Yorktown, or more information, call 713-892-5500 or visit www.utdocs.com.