Why is two-thirds of the US population overweight or obese? Obesity began to increase in 1980, and its incidence is still rising. One reason for this might be that the population has become tolerant of obesity and accepted it as the normal state. On the other end of the spectrum, some people desire to lose weight but, in general, diets and medications are not very effective. The most effective way to lose weight is with bariatric surgery. A relatively new procedure, the gastric sleeve resection, has been introduced. However, most new bariatric operations fail; think of the jejunoileal bypass, vertical banded gastroplasty, and laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding procedures. Has the gastric sleeve resection been successful? A series of articles providing definitive outcomes for these procedures have been published in JAMA and their results are summarized in this podcast.
Interviewees:
David E. Arterburn, MD, MPH
Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, Seattle, WA
Anirban Gupta, MD
Washington Permanente Medical Group, Bellevue, WA
Read the article: Comparing the Outcomes of Sleeve Gastrectomy
The incidence of thyroid cancer is increasing. Like so many cancers, it is being diagnosed at earlier stages because of more aggressive screening and diagnostic testing. The aggressiveness of very early stage thyroid cancer is unknown and some of these tumors may be managed by active surveillance instead of surgery. In this podcast, Dr Sally Carty, Professor of Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh, reviews how to manage thyroid cancer.
Natural History and Tumor Volume Kinetics of Papillary Thyroid Cancers