George Eid, MD: A New Program for Bariatric Surgery

Obesity continues to be a major issue in the US.

And while bariatric surgery can be beneficial for this patient population, there remains a gap in care that prevent long-term effectiveness for many.

However, investigators are hoping to take a multi-disciplinary team approach for patients who opt for bariatric surgery to ensure a healthy long-term recovery.

In an interview with HCPLive®, George Eid, MD, System Chair of the Bariatric and Metabolic Institute at Allegheny Health Network, explained how this approach could be beneficial for individuals who are dealing with obesity.

Eid said the mindset in obesity management has to view the disease as a chronic disease. This includes implanting other specialists into the program to approach patient care from all angles, including nutritionists, psychologists, physical therapists, and surgeons.

There is also considerations for medications throughout the process to treat the chronic disease.

And patients are followed after the surgery to ensure a program that will help manage the obesity is maintained, even years down the line as conditions like heart burn could arise. Eid said the answer here would be endoscopic surgery.

One barrier is that the majority of insurance companies do not regard this as a covered procedure.

Eid will lead a new study with close to 100 patients testing the benefits of this surgery.

But the overriding goal of the program will be to help reduce obesity rates, which would in part have benefits lowering the risk of several other diseases.

“Obesity is an endemic,” Eid said. “You see it everywhere. I call it the mother of all diseases because it causes all sorts of problems.”