Denton County Living Well Magazine Spring 2015 | Page 15

More Seniors Choosing
Weight-Loss Surgery
Courtesy Provost Bariatrics

A

mericans are living longer. We are also growing larger.

The reality is that more
than one-third of adults 65 and older
were found to be obese in 2010, according to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
What’s more, doctors estimate that
obesity in adults age 60 and older
may as much as double over the next
10 years. While obesity itself is not
a chronic condition, it is a risk factor
for many chronic conditions, including
coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes and stroke.
With the statistics weighed against
seniors, it may not be surprising to
learn that there’s another number on
the rise: the number of seniors who
are opting for weight-loss surgery as
a solution to their health issues. Older
adults who are morbidly obese—at
least 100 pounds overweight—are increasingly opting for some form of bariatric surgery as they seek to improve
their health and quality of life for their
remaining years.
“We know weight-loss surgery can
help or resolve issues with diabetes,
hypertension, sleep apnea, heartburn
reflux, and it can make knees and
joints last longer,” said David Provost,
M.D., one of the foremost bariatric surgeons in North Texas and founder of
Provost Bariatrics, a Texas Health Physicians Group practice in Denton.
“Just like a primary doctor prescribes
an antibiotic to relieve flu symptoms,
a bariatric surgeon prescribes weight-

loss surgery to relieve obesity and the
associated issues and risk factors that
accompany obesity,” Provost said. “Of
course, we always look at individual
risks before prescribing anything—
whether surgery or otherwise.”

The Benefits
Can Be Golden
Studies have shown that age does not
appear to significantly increase the
risks associated with having weightloss surgery. This means seniors can
typically undergo weight-loss surgery
without any worse side effects than
those younger people experience.
Dr. Provost emphasizes the benefits to
seniors who undergo weight-loss surgery by calling to mind one of his patients who underwent a lap-band procedure at the golden age of 74.
“When Gary approached us, understandably he was concerned that he
might be too old for surgery,” Dr. Provost said. “But at 280 pounds, he was
on medication for type 2 diabetes, high
cholesterol and hypertension, as well as
a CPAP machine for sleep apnea, and
was unable to even walk to the mailbox
and back without being winded.”
Dr. Provost, who is one of the area’s
few bariatric surgeons to accept Medicare patients, worked with Gary to
thoroughly assess his situation and determined he was a good candidate for
minimally invasive lap-band surgery.
Since the lap-band is adjustable, it
permits safe gradual weight loss over
an extended period of time by limiting
food intake and decreasing hunger.
After surgery, Gary was able to get off
his medications and maintain a much

healthier weight. Patients can expect
similar results when they follow the recommended bariatric guidelines and
are compliant with bariatric surgery.
Other surgical weight-loss options
have proven effective for older adults
as well. Through sleeve gastrectomy,
a portion of the stomach is removed
to permanently reduce the stomach’s
size. With the Roux-en-Y gastric-bypass procedure, part of the stomach
is used Ѽ