HHS HealthBeat (June 05, 2008)

Nibble tuck

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Weight loss surgery can help severely obese people slim down. But what happens after surgery can be as important as what happens during.

The director of HHS’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Dr. Carolyn Clancy, wrote about it in two publications, Nursing for Women’s Health, and Health for Women:

“Surgery isn’t necessarily the magic bullet to losing weight. People who have successful surgery, lose weight, and keep it off, eat very, very differently. Essentially, you’ve got to eat a whole lot less.” (11 seconds)

Clancy also says that some insurers won’t cover the procedure without proof that the person who wants it made a serious attempt to lose weight by other means.

And she notes that, although many people who could benefit from the surgery have not gotten it, it is surgery and so it is not without risk.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: June, 04 2008