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C1V1: What is Obesity?

FEMALE VOICE: I got to the point where I couldn’t physically do a lot and I knew my life was not going to get any better.

MALE VOICE: For me it was horrible, I had a hard time walking, I had a hard time doing anything at work. I had a lot of problems sleeping at night because I had sleep apnea.

P.J.: I was sitting in my endocrinologists office and he said to me, you know P.J. your nerve ending are dying and if you don’t get your diabetes and your weight under control in the next six months we’re probably going to have to amputate your leg. And I went, “holy cow”, “I really have a problem, I really am sick”.

FEMALE VOICE: Well I have lost 189 lbs, but I have gained the freedom to do anything and everything that I want to do.

FEMALE VOICE: Dr. Kane gave me a gift that I will be eternally grateful for, a gift that is unlike any other because it has made me be the woman that I am now, half the size of what I was.

DR. MICHAEL BREEN: Hi, I am Dr. Michael Breen. In a moment, I am going to be joined with some of the expert staff of Alexian Advanced Weight Solutions and also surgeons from the Kane Center. Together we will introduce you to the full range of medical and surgical options available to you if you suffer from obesity and its side effects.

Let us start by talking about obesity in general. Just what is obesity? Obesity is a lifelong progressive live threatening excess of fat storage in your body. Obesity can be something you inherited or it can be caused by a variety of factors, but anyway you look at it, obesity is costly to you.

Your personal health pays the highest cost. Obesity wears and tears at every system in your body. It causes other diseases that you have to take medicine for, yet another way that obesity costs. And it costs emotionally, as you live with obesity you begin to lose sight of your personal hopes and your professional ambitions. Obesity is costly.

You may have heard the term morbid obesity. There are three ways that we define morbid obesity.

1. If you are more than 200% over your ideal weight.

2. If you are more than 100 lbs overweight.

3. If you have a body mass index greater than 40.

If you fit any of these descriptions, you are morbidly obese. Morbid obesity is a chronic disease process that is characterized by a severe accumulation of fatty tissue. And those who are morbidly obese generally have a poor response to dietary management. And they also possess co-morbid conditions that affect every system of their bodies.

If you suffer from obesity or morbid obesity, I want you to keep listening because this may be the most important message you have ever heard in your life. If you are obese, you are not solely responsible for your condition. Obesity is a disease and like most diseases, it can be treated, it essential to your health that you seek treatment if you are obese.

Listen to these statistics about obesity. The Center for Disease Control classifies obesity as a “critical public health problem”. Obesity is the second leading cause of preventable death next to smoking, which is the first. In the United States alone in the year 2000, 400,000 people died of obesity related deaths.

Thirty-four million adults were overweight, an average of 8 million people was considered severely obese, and 25% of children were overweight, a number nearly tripling in the past 20 years. $228 billion a year is spent on healthcare expenditures associated with obesity. And in 2003, the General American Medical Association reports that obesity appears to lessen the life expectancy of younger adults by as much as 20 years.

So, about you, how do you know whether you fall into the obese or morbidly obese categories? The National Institute of Health sets and maintains the criteria for these conditions using a measurement called the body mass index, you may have heard of it called the BMI. BMI is an objective measure of obesity measuring your weight. You can visit the Alexian Web site at www.alexianweightsolutions.com for a convenient tool to calculate your BMI.

But, basically this formula is multiple of your weight divided by your height. Now, here is a chart of weight classifications using body mass index. And ideal weight is a BMI of 20-24. Overweight is a BMI of 25-29. Moderate obesity, class one, is a BMI of 30-34. Severe obesity, class two, is a BMI of 35-39. Morbid obesity, class three, is a BMI 40-49. And finally, super obesity is a BMI greater 50.

Now, many men and women who are obese, they suffer not only from carrying excessive weight, but also from illness brought on from being overweight. You know, those weight related illnesses are called medical co-morbidities. You may have heard of or many even have some of these medical co-morbidities. Diabetes, hypertension, hypolipidema or high cholesterol, acid reflux, heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease, arthritis, or depression, physical illnesses are not the only side effect of obesity.

People who carry an excessive amount of weight can also suffer from emotional stressors such as low self esteem, depression is another common challenge, for example 20-25% of people who are at normal weight suffer from depression, but 60% of moderately obese people suffer from depression. And 90% of morbidly obese people suffer depression.

This is why I stated earlier that obesity is costly, it cost physically, emotionally, and it also cost socially. It is not uncommon for people who are significantly obese to suffer from any one or more of the following social co-morbidities, weight harassment, and prejudice. Studies show society has low respect for morbidly obese, the same as for alcoholics and drug addicts.

Many obese people become isolated and lonely. Dating and marriage may be less common. And the obese can also suffer from medical personnel discrimination. There is no doubt that being obese or morbidly obese can be a physical and emotional struggle. Right now, it may be difficult to imagine that you can actually lose your excess weight and gain the freedom to live again. This hope has only been in the making the past few decades.

I am going to introduce you to a team that offers sophisticated medical and surgical options that proven success of the lives of thousands of patients at Alexian Advanced Weight Solutions. One of the most respected weight treatment and surgical centers in the Midwest. Alexian offers you the Freedom to Live Program and it is one your best hopes for long-term weight loss.

Just listen to these testimonials of Alexian patients who have experienced success they never dreamed possible. You will understand why they say at Alexian, it is not just what you lose, it’s what you gain.

FEMALE VOICE: I was taking five blood pressure pills a day. I had just been told that I had diabetes. My legs hurt, my ankles hurt, my knee hurt, my hip hurt, everything hurt, but most of all my heart hurt. I was not happy, I put on a face that I was happy, but I was truly not happy.

FEMALE VOICE: When I was overweight. I had lost all my self-confidence, my sense of worthiness, just very depressed, I mean food was my drug of choice, I was happy I ate, I was sad I ate, I was tired I ate, you know, I ate just to eat. Now, since I have had the surgery my life has done a complete 360 and I would not change a thing for the world.

FEMALE VOICE: My background is in training and dealing with lifestyle changes, making behavioral changes for the future, and teaching people to make those behavioral changes kind of stick. With bariatric surgery and with the stories that people have told me, it does sadden me to hear the experience that these patients have had and the feeling of failing themselves, failing their family members, failing the people that they work with.

Shame is a powerful emotion that I wish I could eliminate from the world, but the Freedom to Live Program is very focused on letting go of the past and focusing on the future and that there are new opportunities, there’s advantages to this program that we can work together to make your life different.

FEMALE VOICE: Since I have had surgery, my life has changed a 100%. I have three children. I am constantly on the go with them. I volunteer at their schools. I do not feel like they are ashamed of me anymore. They say they were not before, but I was always self-conscience.

DR. JAMES KANE, JR.: Over 40 years ago when my father Dr. Kane, Sr. served at Cook Country Hospital in Chicago as a teaching surgeon, he treated countless patients for diseases that could have been prevented. Many of these illnesses resulted from severely overweight such as high blood pressure, heart disease and of course diabetes. Today many severely overweight people live in a forced exile of shame, the severely overweight experienced many challenges with some of life’s most simple activities, like sitting comfortably in a restaurant booth, fitting in an airplane seat, and even walking normal distances.

Obesity can interrupted career progression and promotions, in a very real way the obese of today’s untouchables. It is not uncommon for obese people to hide behind closed blinds or drawn curtains, leaving the house only when absolutely necessary.

This is the world my father saw many of his patients experiencing day after day. These were the patients he treated and the people his heart went out to. He began to understand the unique needs and hopes overweight men and women want desperately to have a normal existence. Many having tried every diet available to them even experiencing success, only to gain the weight back.

This vicious cycle is discouraging, but potentially dangerous. My father knew that if morbidly obese men and women could lose weight, their worlds could completely change. They would gain the freedom to live. He investigated weight surgery options through numerous other bowel surgeries for cancer and other disease related issues. He noted that overweight patients lost weight and kept it off because of an increased restriction to food volume and less absorption of calories.

Still this was considered exploratory research and hospitals were hesitant to embrace this. But, the knowledge of this procedure launched my father on a four decade journey of improving and perfecting weight loss surgery for the morbidly obese. He was determined to give the severely overweight a fighting chance against this disease.

Since the Kane Center’s humble beginning, our team of experienced surgeons, led by my father, has performed thousands of successful bariatric surgeries over the last 40 years. Our team has taught surgeons all over the world the intricacy of this surgical technique and more importantly about the post surgical care as well.

The Kane Center in partnership with Alexian Brothers is one of the highest patient success rates, lowest mortality rates in the United States. Operating on a morbidly obese patient is a very serious and complex surgery. There is a higher risk for the excessively overweight undergoing any operation compared to the average weight. Severe obesity brings a host of other illnesses, co-morbidities that can place the patient at risk especially for post surgical complications.

The Alexian Brothers Medical Network and the Kane Center has over 40 years experienced and has performed thousands of weight loss surgeries. Our staff of specialized surgeons meticulously attends to every detail, during, and after surgery. They anticipate and address the smallest signs of infection or threat to the patient’s life. Patient’s can know that Alexian Advanced Weight Solutions and the Kane Center will give them absolute finest care possible.

I’m proud of the work we do at the Kane Center and the partnership we’ve developed with Alexian. Together through the Freedom to Live Program, we are changing people’s lives, helping them discover joy and happiness they never dreamed possible.

DR. JIM KANE, SR.: Hello, I am Dr. Jim Kane, Sr. founder of the Kane Center and I want to thank you for taking the time to listen to my colleagues and myself about the important issue of successful weight loss for the severely obese. I have experienced an enormous amount of personal satisfaction from being surgeon, but nothing has provided me with as much personal satisfaction as performing obesity surgery.

Over my 40 years of bariatric surgery, I have witnessed firsthand some of the most incredible life transformations imaginable after performing weight loss surgery on a severely overweight. Each patient is special to me and to our entire surgical team. We see lives completely transform. The weight comes off, health conditions improve, and men and women learn to embrace their futures and all it holds.

The Kane Center and Alexian Brothers Hospital Network specializes in your particular needs. If you are obese or morbidly obese, please let us help. Bariatric surgery provides one of the single best hopes for you to lose to weight and to live healthy life free of the many diseases that put you at risk. You can live a normal life and experience the everyday joys that have seemed beyond your research.

Let us meet and discuss your situation. It would be our privilege to care for you and to restore your Freedom to Live.

DR. MICHAEL BREEN: Alexian has long been associated with excellent compassionate health care, but you should also know that Alexian surgeons are pioneers in the field of bariatric surgery and medically assisted weight loss. Alexian Brothers Medical Center recently earned top recognition as a bariatric surgery center of excellence by the American Society of Bariatric Surgery. And as a designated center for bariatric surgery by Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Illinois.

Recipients of these two significant designations demonstrate the necessary capabilities and expertise to provide weight loss surgery with the highest levels of effectiveness, efficiency, and safety, and to achieve both excellent short and long term patient outcomes.

This recognition distinguishes Alexian Advanced Weight Solutions as the four most choice for weight loss surgery in the Midwest. Alexian superior achievements don’t stop with the Bariatric Division, in their annual report, U.S. News and World report ranked Alexian among the nation’s best in five specialties.