While the often impressive benefits of bariatric surgery on health and quality of life in younger patients with severe obesity are well documented, the safety and benefits of bariatric surgery in older patients remains largely unclear. Now, a systematic review by my colleague Alexandra Chow from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, published in Obesity Surgery looks at outcomes in patients older than 65 years of age. The review includes data from 8 studies (1835 patients) of roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery, all of which were case series. Overall mean excess weight loss was about 70{7920e18cf5186565893a18d1f69fa52bf2806dc683a7bfcea51d671d2f7d8125}, which is only marginally less than generally seen in younger patients with this procedure. Mean 30-day mortality was 0.14 {7920e18cf5186565893a18d1f69fa52bf2806dc683a7bfcea51d671d2f7d8125} with a post-operative complication rate of around 20{7920e18cf5186565893a18d1f69fa52bf2806dc683a7bfcea51d671d2f7d8125}, with wound infections being …

While the debate about whether or not obesity merits being called a disease may still be discussed in lay circles (and, unfortunately, even amongst some so-called “experts”), there have been some remarkably forward-thinking policy decisions in the US, that should have long helped lay this “debate” to rest. Here are just some of the policies supporting the idea of obesity as a disease passed by US legislators in recent past, as outlined in the article by Scott Kahan and Tracy Zvenyach published in Current Obesity Reports. In 2002, the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) explicitly stated obesity is a disease and codified the right to deduct medical treatment for obesity. In 2004, the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) revised longstanding national …