Less-invasive weight loss surgery safer.

(Reuters) / 23 June 2012

Minimally invasive weight loss surgery is safer than open surgery, with patients suffering fewer complications during those procedures, according to a US study of more than 150,000 people who underwent gastric bypass surgery.
Patients left the hospital sooner, and with a slightly smaller medical bill, after undergoing so-called laparoscopic gastric bypass procedures, in which only a few small cuts in the stomach are made, said researchers at Stanford University in California.
During gastric bypass, the surgeon creates a pouch out of the top portion of the stomach, then connects it to the small intestine so fewer calories are absorbed during digestion, with one large cut being made. Laparoscopic surgery involves a small camera being inserted, and several small cuts.
“The consensus is now overwhelming to suggest a laparoscopic approach first,” said John Morton, who led the research, noting that close to 90 per cent of gastric bypass surgery patients now have it done laparoscopically.
“Pretty much across the board (it has) much better outcomes for patients.”
Morton and his colleagues analysed data on weight loss procedures done at about 1,000 US hospitals each year between 2005 and 2007, including 41,000 open gastric bypass surgeries and 115,000 laparoscopic surgeries.
Looking at safety records, the researchers found about 19 per cent of patients undergoing open surgery had at least one complication, such as developing pneumonia or needing a blood transfusion. Just over 12 per cent of those who had less-invasive surgery developed complications.
One in 500 obese patients in the open surgery group died during or shortly after the procedure, compared with one in 1,000 in the laparoscopic group, according to findings published in the Archives of Surgery.
Open surgery patients also had longer hospital stays, 3.5 days versus 2.4 days, on average.
According to data from the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, about 220,000 people in the United States had weight loss surgery, including gastric bypass, in 2009.
“From the surgeon’s perspective, the ability to see (during) the surgery is enhanced doing it laparoscopically,” said Anita Courcoulas, a professor and bariatric surgeon from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, who wasn’t involved in the study.
“From the patient’s perspective, there’s much less pain, so they can walk and move and return to normal activities sooner.”

Reuters - 23rd June 2012

Blueberries and Belly Fat

As strange as it may seem, new research seems to indicate that blueberries are a key component for getting rid of body fat. They also play a key role in eliminating a lot of the risks that we get when we are deemed to be overweight. They have been found to assist us in lowering cholesterol or and a reduction in the risk of heart disease. Let's take a little look at just how blueberries work to reduce belly fat.
This theory was born when scientists added blueberries to a group of rat's diets over a 90 day period. At the end of the study they found that there was a reduction in fat around the abdomen, they also found that cholesterol had been significantly lowered.
It has been long agreed that the eating of fruits and vegetables are beneficial to our health. Science only now is starting to show exactly how and why they are beneficial to our bodies. Let's look at why the blueberry is so great at what it does.
Blueberries are high in vitamins and minerals but low in calories. This means that your body is getting all of the vital things that it needs without you piling on the pounds. It also means that you would have to eat less of the fatty items that contain the vitamins you need to keep your body functioning. Blueberries are also incredibly high in antioxidants which have been shown to improve conditions often associated with weight, for example cancer or heart disease.

So how exactly do blueberries contribute towards a reduction in belly fat? Well as mentioned previously, a study had indicated that rats developed less abdominal fat when 2% of their diet included blueberries. Scientists found the reason for this was that these blueberries had a direct influence on the genes that control fat-burning and storage. They also found that the nature of the muscle tissue had changed and they were less likely to take in glucose.
Blueberries also seemed to have an effect on insulin levels within the body.  If insulin levels are kept low the body won't be as frantic in storing carbohydrates in the body. Once these insulin levels rise we begin to put on weight. Basically blueberries help reduce the symptoms of metabolic syndrome which in turn leads to diabetes if it is not treated early.
It has long been assumed that blueberries are a key fruit for improving our health, but never before have we been shown that they could actually help reduce the fat that is being stored around our bellies. With this new health benefit it is safe to say that more and more people will be adding blueberries to their diet in a bid to maintain a healthy weight. Of course, I don't really blame them. It seems that this solution is like its own natural ‘diet pill', it has all of the benefits of a pill but none of the side-effects. Who would have thought that a tiny purple fruit would have such a huge benefit on our bodies?

Sonja M. - About the Author:
I am a Certified Personal Trainer whose main focus is educating individuals over the age of 40 about the benefits of health and fitness.
If you would like some additional information on weight loss or health and fitness after 40, please visit us at http://livefitat40.com.

Weight Loss Tips

Losing weight needs to be something that is permanent. Yo-yo dieting can lead to health problems and poor self image. As difficult as it can

Megan Gleeson

Losing weight needs to be something that is permanent. Yo-yo dieting can lead to health problems and poor self image. As difficult as it can be, no one wants to go through all the work to take off pounds and then have them come right back on again in three months. Finding sensible and proven changes to implement into your lifestyle is the best way to take off pound and keep them off.
You do not need to starve yourself to lose weight quickly. Quick weight loss should be taken in stride and needs to be a part of your daily routine. Quick weight loss tips should be incorporated into your lifestyle in a way that will stay with you the rest of your life. Jumping around from diet to diet and weight loss program to weight loss program can be detrimental to your health.
One of the easiest quick weight loss tips to include in your daily routine is water. Drinking more water is not only healthy it will help stimulate your body to lose more weight. Drinking more water is not a difficult thing to incorporate. Many women carry a large bag and are able to carry a water bottle around with them during the day, making this one of the quick weight loss tips a daily habit.
A quick weight loss tip if you have a hard time drinking water is to carry single drink mix packets to add to your water. There are many sugar free calorie free varieties that are available and they can easily replace a soda or a cup of coffee in your daily routine. Quick weight loss tips like this need to become habit.
These water quick weight loss tips are also helpful in the weight loss process because they can help you stay full and not eat so much. Drinking water can also help your body to burn off stored fat, and the kidneys are able to flush out excess fat with the added water in your diet. You can burn an additional 62 calories a day just by drinking icy cold water.
Another quick weight loss tip that can be implemented into your daily routine and become a part of your lifestyle is a constant eating habit. This sounds counterproductive, but it's not it's a great way to quick weight loss. If you eat five small healthy meals a day you will stay full longer and avoid caving into cravings and overeating due to hunger.

Megan Gleeson is a successful author. Visit http://latest-beauty-tips.com/ to read more articles from Megan Gleeson.

Japan 'diet glasses' fool wearers into eating less.

By Miwa Suzuki | AFP – Mon, Jun 4, 2012

Related Content

• A man eats a cookie with a camera-equipped …

Goggles that trick the wearer into thinking the plain snack in their hand is a chocolate cookie, or make biscuits appear larger have been unveiled in Japan, offering hope to weak-willed dieters everywhere.

Researchers at the University of Tokyo have developed devices that use computer wizardry and augmented reality to fool the senses and make users feel more satisfied with smaller -- or less appealing -- treats.

On one device goggle-mounted cameras send images to a computer, which magnifies the apparent size of the cookie in the image it displays to the wearer while keeping his hand the same size, making the snack appear larger than it actually is.

In experiments, volunteers consumed nearly 10 percent less when the biscuits they were eating appeared 50 percent bigger.

They ate 15 percent more when cookies were manipulated to look two-thirds of their real size.

Professor Michitaka Hirose at the university's graduate school of information science and technology said he was interested in how computers can be used to trick the human mind.

"How to fool various senses or how to build on them using computers is very important in the study of virtual reality," he told AFP.

Hirose said standard virtual reality equipment that attempts to cater to complex senses like touch often results in bulky equipment.
But he said using one or more senses to fool the others was a way around this problem.
"Reality is in your mind," he said.
In another project, Hirose's team developed a "meta cookie", where the headgear uses scent bottles and visual trickery to fool the wearer into thinking the snack they are eating is anything but a plain biscuit.

Users can set the device to their favourite taste so they think they are eating a chocolate or strawberry-flavoured cookie.

Hirose says experiments so far have shown 80 percent of subjects are fooled.

The team has no plans as yet to commercialise their invention, but would like to investigate whether people wanting to lose weight can use the device.