Woman sleeping with sleep apnea mask on

How Lap-Band Helps with More Than Weight Loss

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When people first seek out bariatric surgery, it’s usually because they’re looking to lose weight and have been unsuccessful with traditional diet and exercise. However, upon further research and consultation, they quickly learn that losing weight is just one of several benefits of bariatric surgeries like the Lap-Band® procedure. 

Because people who are overweight and obese tend to be at a higher risk for serious diseases and chronic health conditions, losing weight can help relieve or even eliminate these issues. Bariatric surgery helps with more than just weight loss—it’s a step toward an overall healthier lifestyle. 

Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder characterized by a person’s breathing repeatedly stopping and restarting during their rest. Not only does it compromise quality of sleep, but left untreated, sleep apnea can lead to high blood pressure and other heart problems. There are different types of sleep apnea, but obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the most common, occurring when an airway is narrowed or blocked entirely. 

OSA is also more common in individuals who are overweight or obese. Excess fat in the neck area can obstruct airways and worsen sleep apnea, and excess abdominal fat can compress the chest, decreasing lung volume and airflow. If you suffer from OSA and are overweight, experts suggest that losing 10-15% of your weight can help. Bariatric surgery may improve your quality of sleep and decrease the severity of your sleep apnea-related symptoms.

Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is a chronic condition which affects the body’s ability to properly use insulin, resulting in irregular blood sugar levels that need to be controlled with insulin. If not addressed, type 2 diabetes can cause kidney damage, nerve damage, and an increased chance of heart disease or stroke.

Excess weight and type 2 diabetes are strongly linked. In fact, experts believe obesity accounts for at least 80% of a person’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes. 

For those suffering from type 2 diabetes, bariatric surgery can help the body regain its ability to properly control blood sugar levels—possibly without the assistance of medication. Most individuals who have had bariatric surgery to help treat their type 2 diabetes have quickly noticed improvements in their symptoms, and years later, many have entered long-term remission.

High Blood Pressure

Your blood exerts force against your blood vessel walls as your heart pushes it through your body. When this force is consistently too high, your heart and blood vessels are forced to work harder—this is high blood pressure. Untreated high blood pressure can lead to a multitude of serious health problems, such as heart failure, kidney damage, a stroke or heart attack, and dementia.

Being obese is a huge risk factor for high blood pressure. By itself, being overweight forces the heart to work harder to pump blood, as excess fatty tissue increases the resistance of your blood vessels. There are medications that can help those with hypertension achieve a normal blood pressure, but weight loss surgery can help achieve the same goal. For every 20 pounds lost, your systolic blood pressure drops 5 to 20 points. 

The benefits of bariatric surgery extend beyond just weight loss. If you suffer from a condition that may be relieved by bariatric surgery, you may qualify for the Lap-Band surgery. Safe, effective, and long lasting, the Lap-Band is adjustable gastric band that is placed around the upper portion of the stomach to help with portion control and weight loss. The surgery is minimally invasive, non-malabsorptive, and free of stapling or cutting. 

Completely adjustable and reversible, the Lap-Band may be the bariatric option that can help you take control of your health. Visit the Utah Lap-Band website to learn more about the conditions that may qualify you for Lap-Band surgery, or make an appointment with us today.

conflicting diet

Lap Band Vs. Intense Diet Program

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and the winner is…

Have you ever wondered what the score is? In a very important study, mild to moderately obese patients with the Lap-Band weight loss surgery lost 87 percent of their excess weigh compared to 21 percent who had an intensive medical diet program over a two year period of time. The diet program patients continued to gain weight whereas the Lap-Band patients continued to loose it at the two year mark.

conflicting dietWhen an individual has up to 100 plus pounds of excess weight losing 5-10 percent of that is helpful, but not enough to make a real difference in health. For people with diabetes, the winners were even more amazing.

In a randomized controlled study in patients with early type II diabetes and excess weigh up to 100 pounds over their ideal body weight results showed that the Lap-Band patients lost 68 percent of their excess weight and 76 percent were in remission of their diabetes after a two year follow up. The dieting group who had intensive lifestyle training and conventional diabetes treatment lost 4.3 percent of their excess wight and 13 percent were in diabetes remission.

Lap-Band surgery helps people lose weight by lowering hunger level allowing comfortable intake of smaller portions without being so hungry. The Lap-Band is placed as an outpatient procedure with a laparoscopic approach to minimize pain for a faster, safer recovery.

Lap-Band surgery is a safe and effective punch against obesity. If other weight loss programs have not put you in the winning circle consider Lap-Band surgery for your fight.

If you or someone you know could use this remarkable advancement help is only a call or click away.

lasting weight loss

Lose Weight and Keep It Off

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Every patient who undergoes a Lap-Band procedure wants to know what to do to be successful at losing weight and living healthier. The Lap-Band will help people who have significant weight to lose to get it off and keep it off. It will help them feel less hungry. Your part is to eat the small est amount that it takes to not be hungry any more. The difference between a Lap-Band and a diet is that you are usually hungry with dieting. All other principles of good eating apply.

lasting weight lossHere are 10 rules for success with the Lap-Band, based on a list originally developed by Dr. Paul O’Brien of Melbourne, Australia, and Dr. Rudolf Weiner of Frankfurt, Germany — two of the leading Lap-Band surgeons in the world.

  1. Eat only three small meals a day.
  2. Eat solid foods, slowly, and chew thoroughly (15 to 20 times a bite).
  3. Stop eating as soon as you feel full.
  4. Do not wash down your solids with liquids.
  5. Do not eat between meals.
  6. Eat only quality foods.
  7. Avoid fibrous food.
  8. Drink enough fluids during the day.
  9. Drink only low-calorie liquids.
  10. Exercise at least 30 minutes a day.

The first principle will be possible with the Lap-Band and will keep you from feeling so hungry. Following these guidelines is essential to ensuring that you maximize healthy success and weight loss after your Lap-Band surgery.

lap band feeling full

The Hourglass Effect

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The whole eating factory function of the stomach is very complicated and still not understood completely. One of known triggers for us to feel satisfied after eating is volume. In the stomach wall, there are small switches that are turned on when we eat a significant volume. These switches then send a signal to the brain to lower or turn off our hunger. If we eat a lot, then we fill “full.” If we keep eating, then we become sick.

Placement of a Lap-Band creates an hourglass contour of the upper stomach. As food enters the upper portion, the restricted neck creates pressure on the upper pouch and gives the sensation of fullness. Most people have had this phenomenon to a lesser degree. It occurs when you don’t eat for a significant period of time and then notice that you don’t eat as much at the next meal. The common belief is that the stomach shrunk. In reality, the stretch switches were turned on sooner due the stomach recoiling back to its usual size. The Lap-Band magnifies this effect so you are more easily able to eat small portions without feeling so hungry. Not drinking with meals and waiting for a while after eating will help the hunger stay away.

The Lap-Band is adjustable to customize how much restriction there is around the stomach.

A Backhoe Against Hunger

Hunger is one of the main challenge we face in trying to lose or maintain a healthy weight. Sometimes it is physical process, and other times it is a mental process. This struggle is more difficult when there is high caloric food easily accessible around us. Most diet techniques include cutting back how much we eat or choosing food with fewer calories. And diets work, right? So what is the problem? You have to stay on that eating regimen consistently or the pounds return and the hole you have been digging against the extra pounds starts to fill in again.

There are many tools out there to help people lose weight, and when there are a lot of pounds, the job is more difficult. To keep weight controlled, there needs to be a permanent plan and tool. Renting a shovel can help you dig, but when you need it on a daily basis, it is better to own one.

Digging out a basement for a new house takes a lot more work than planting flowers. The tools are different for different needs. You need a more powerful tool than a shovel, like a backhoe.

If you have significant pounds to lose, you may benefit from using a more powerful tool like a Lap-Band. It can be the backhoe against your hunger. It will help you fill full faster to more easily cut back on the volume of food and dig a bigger hole against the extra pounds to help you keep it off and get the job done.

weight loss surgery northern utah

Is it Time for Your Weight Wake-Up Call?

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Julia Sonders remembers having a weight problem from the time she reached puberty. She tried everything to lose weight: nutrition counseling, a vigorous walking regimen, guidance from a personal trainer, and diets.

weight loss surgery northern utahAlways the diets. Nothing worked. By the time Julia was 22 she carried 227 pounds on her 5’4” frame. That was the year she embarked on a year’s research into weight loss surgery that led her to Dr. Darrin Hansen.

“His success stories spoke to me,” relates Julia, “and he was very kind. I was so sad and disappointed in myself, but he didn’t look down on me. He gave me hope. I decided the LAP-BAND and Dr. Hansen’s support program were right for me.”

Today, Julia is a svelte 132 pounds, and says Dr. Hansen and LAP-BAND surgery changed her life:

“I’m a different person. The things I’m capable of now, the opportunities I have, the way I think are all improved.”

SHEDDING EXCESS POUNDS DOES MORE THAN BOOST YOUR MORALE. IT REDUCES HEALTH RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH DIABETES, HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, ACID REFLUX, SLEEP APNEA, AND HEART DISEASE.

“Helping people overcome these challenges is what prompted me to open my own practice, with expanded value and services, in a convenient location for my community,” says bariatric and general surgeon Dr. Darrin Hansen.

He is a Center of Excellence Bariatric Surgeon and has helped more than 800 patients lose health-threatening excess weight with laparoscopic gastric banding.

“Excess weight has so many health implications,” says Dr. Hansen. “I am passionate about helping people wake up to the dangers sooner rather than later and to take action to reduce their health risks with the safest, quickest, least invasive approach to surgical weight loss available.”

  • Fewest surgical risks
  • Lowest complication rate
  • Adjustable
  • Reversible
  • Performed on an outpatient basis
  • Speediest recovery

“We offer all the tools patients need to succeed: pre-operative seminars and counseling by a bariatric coordinator who is herself a LAP-BAND success story, dietitian services, a mental health counselor, and guidance in selecting exercises and activities to support healthy, sustained weight loss,” describes Dr. Hansen.

“Our post-operative support groups are led by people who have had LAP-BAND surgery, and I make a lifelong commitment to helping my patients stay on track.”

safe weight loss surgery

A Lifeline for Weight Loss

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Helping you conquer the mountain of excess weight

Each of us must climb mountains in our lives. If you have struggles with the mountain of excess weight there is a life line rope to help.

safe weight loss surgeryLap-Band Surgery can provide people with the assistance to make the climb. It significantly lowers hunger to ease the effort to reach your goal of better health and happiness.

Just as a rope on the mountain can save your life, many people will live longer and happier with less excess weight. The climb through life will be much more enjoyable without the extra burden many continue to carry.

Lap Band surgery is the safest surgical weight loss option available. It is places as an hour long outpatient procedure. Most people are able to return to full time desk work or light duty work in a week. And, many insurance plans now cover the procedure and financing is available to assist others as needed.

During the procedure a solid silicone ring is placed around the upper stomach to create an hourglass shape to facilitate an earlier stretch on the stomach sending signals to the brain and turn down hunger.

The amount of restriction is adjustable by a small reservoir under the skin that can be accessed in the office for customized control. Weight loss is gradual with adequate progressive narrowing of the ban opening.

If you or someone you know could use this remarkable advancement help is only a call or click away. Contact us to learn about treatment for severe obesity and excess weight.

lap band utah

Considering Lap-Band

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The Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Band (LAGB) is an adjustable solid silicone ring surgically placed around the top of the stomach to create an hour glass shape helping weight loss. As a person eats with a band, the narrowed area causes food above it to stretch the ping pong ball space allowing a person to feel fuller, faster, with less without the hunger. The opening through the band is about the size of a pencil when sized correctly. The “adjustments” in the office are customized to each person and are usually only a ten minute visit. The goal for the size of the opening is to eat solid food without too much difficulty.

lap band utahI have many patients who tell me “This is the first time I have not felt so hungry all the time.” With hunger more controlled it gives the help to be satisfied on less. I ask my patients to “Eat the smallest amount that it takes to not be hungry and stop there.” Liquids with food are avoided to not lower the effectiveness of the band.

Careful eating will lessen difficulty with the narrowed area. People can eat most food but heavy meats and white bread or other “gummy” foods can problematic. Liquid calories or high calorie dense food should be avoided to have maximal benefit. Adding exercise helps as well.

The band is designed to be permanent but can be removed but then you’re on your own. Less than 2.5% of my patients have removed it which does require an operation.

Overall most people are happy with the band and are significantly helped with their efforts for weight loss demonstrated by the fact that it is the most common weight loss surgery in the U.S. It is the safest, only adjustable, outpatient weight loss procedure available. Look for an experienced surgeon and program for better results.

Learn more.

navigating weight loss

Which Way to Weight Loss

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Find your weight loss road map for success

Where are you going? If you know, then what is keeping you from getting there – and are you headed in the right direction?

We all have limitations in life: some we can control and others we are required to accept and do the best we can.

navigating weight lossIf excess weight and the many health problems it can bring are baggage in your journey through life that you wish could be left behind, now is the time to make a change for the better. A vehicle can allow you to get where you may not be able go on your own. Most people will choose a safe, effective option.

Lap Band weight loss surgery is the safest weight loss surgery available. It is a reversible, adjustable out patient procedure that can change your life. It can help you get to where you want to be or allow you opportunities that may not otherwise be available.

Recently the FDA lowered the indication of using the Allergan Lap Band for those with a BMI of 30 (30-50 lbs over normal weight) and above who have conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, etc.

These conditions have a significant chance of improving or resolving with weight loss and Lap Band can help. If you have ever wondered whether weight loss surgery is right for you, we can help. Get to where you want to go with Lap Band.

If you or someone you know could use this remarkable advancement help is only a call or click away.

weight loss

Time to Make a Change

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Do something that will improve your health and life. Excess weight can cause many medical problems, including, but not limited to the following.

weight lossObesity Risk List:

  • Type 2 Diabetes
  • Coronary heart disease
  • High LDL (“bad”) cholesterol
  • Stroke
  • Hypertension
  • Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
  • Gallbladder disease
  • Osteoarthritis (degeneration of cartilage and bone of joints)
  • Sleep apnea & other breathing problems
  • Some forms of cancer (breast, colorectal, endometrial, and kidney)
  • Complications of pregnancy
  • Menstrual irregularities
  • Asthma
  • Excessive hair growth
  • Urine leakage
  • Depression
  • Heartburn (GERD)
  • Increased surgical risk
  • Increased mortality

These conditions can improve or resolve with weight loss. If weight loss has not been maintained by non surgical options consider looking in to a Lap-Band procedure.

If you or someone you know could use this remarkable advancement help is only a call or click away. Please visit utahlapband.com for more information.

The Incredible Impact of Lap Band

Many people will define a miracle as a positive event that was not expected to happen unexplainable with presumption if divine providence. Much of technology, Medicine, Transportation, and Communication we use today would be considered a miracle not too long ago. A tool can be a gift or even a miracle for some who do not have a access to it. Even though we know so much more about many conditions of the human body many treatments seem to be a miracle even though we know how they work.

For some, one of those little miracles is the Lap Band. It has helped thousands improve their health through significant weight loss. High blood pressure, heartburn, joint pain, sleep apnea, even the treatment of diabetes can go away, not just simply be controlled. Exactly how it works is not completely known but, it acts to lessen hunger. It creates a narrowed area at the top of the stomach so smaller volumes of food will satisfy an individual during a meal, less calories are consumed and weight loss follows. It is a tool to literally funnel eating to a more manageable controlled event. there are no guarantees but, many have seen tremendous results that have changed their lives for the better in ways that were not thought possible. To some this is a miracle.

If you or someone you know could use this remarkable advancement help is only a call or click away. Please visit utahlapband.com for more information.