NIH funding a study of WLS' long-term effects

[rainyday]

I received a newsletter from a local WLS clinic with an article that discussed their upcoming participation in an NIH study on WLS. The study is being done in two parts, the first to evaluate short-term results and the second long-term ones.

"LABS-2 is a more involved study, with the goal of evaluating longer-term safety and efficacy of bariatric surgery...This study will help objectively determine the health benefits of bariatric surgery in terms of weight loss and its effect on some of the co-morbidities of obesity."

The article is in the fall 2006 newsletter at this link if you feel like downloading the pdf of it:
http://www.legacyhealth.org/body.cfm?id=1306&oTopID=1306&PLinkID=681

This is the link provided in the newsleter for the consortium conducting the study: http://www.edc.pitt.edu/labs/Public/index.html
The mission statement of the consortium includes this: "The most effective means currently available to induce substantial weight loss, with long-term maintenance of that weight loss, is through bariatric surgery."

A long-term study would be great, but if they're starting with that already decided, it seems questionable to me whether this one will provide unbiased results.

[Miss Vickie]

It's about time, isn't it? I'm glad the NIH is getting involved so we can get some good, long term studies.

[SocialbFly]

I couldnt agree more...when i have looked for long term results and statistics they are few and far between, i believe this should have been done long ago...there are so many people for whom this surgery has been life saving, and far too many for whom it hasnt...

i hope they add in people that have had this surgery multiple times and i also hope they look at post op changes in addictions...both seem to have problems coping (for lack of a better term) and maybe some more post op support is called for....

i am so glad they are doing this....

[rainyday]

Yup, it sure is about time. I would love to have this information. The consortium's statement just made me wonder how objective it will be. (The consortium is made up of six WLS surgery centers from what I could gather.) I'm not very familiar with studies like this. Will the NIH have safeguards in place to keep things somewhat objective?

[missaf]

Let's just hope the surgery centers are honest for a change, and don't pick patients that they think will fair the best just for the test results.

[Dibaby35]

I also hope they include all different types of WLS not just gastric bypass.