#obsmuk #twitter chat

Welcome to this @obsmuk twitter chat. Before we start it is important to firstly understand the terminology that we are going to be using within this Blog and during the twitter chat. Within the literature the terms very low ‘calorie’ and very low ‘energy’ have often been used interchangeably. As calories are units of energy; ‘energy’ should therefore be used. Formula diets are divided according to energy. Very low energy diets (VLED) provide <800kcal/day, whilst low energy diets (LED) provide between 800-1200kcal per day. When replacing a person's total daily dietary intake known as total diet replacement (TDR), or some meals, a partial diet replacement (PDR). Research predominately uses liquid diets including sachets of powder, which are reconstituted into shakes and soup. To simplify these terms, we use ‘formula diets’ to cover both very low energy (VLED) and low energy diets (LED). Formula diets have been around for a number of years and have evoked much heated deb...

BOMSS 2019 Update The British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society (BOMSS) held its 2019 10 th annual conference on 24 th and 25 th January. This event brought together dieticians, nurses, researchers, psychologists, physicians, GPs, surgeons and patients to discuss obesity and its most effective treatment i.e. bariatric surgery. There were excellent updates about the status of bariatric surgery in the UK, bariatric research and the health of our society-BOMSS. Some interesting debates and discussions were held including sessions about bariatric anaesthesia, choice of bariatric operations and importance of research for bariatric surgery. In addition, excellent research was presented as oral or poster presentations. To move some of the discussions further and disseminate some highlights from the conference, #obsmuk is holding a tweet chat on Wednesday 30 th January at 8pm GMT. We aim to discuss the following topics. 1.       BOMSS set...

As we near the end of November, Christmas festivities are in eyesight and preparations are well underway. We sincerely wish everyone a great time! But what does Christmas bring to us if we are affected by obesity, struggle with weight issues or had bariatric surgery? Before, during and after Christmas, there will be increased social activities such as meeting up with family friends and work colleagues for Christmas lunches, dinners and parties. There will be many opportunities to indulge in those delicious mince pies and Yule logs! Gifts frequently comprise of biscuits and chocolates. Over Christmas, as families gather together, there is often the temptation to buy in more food. Not surprisingly, many of us continue to eat our way through the additional foods throughout January!  With the colder dark nights, more time is spent indoors leading to more sedentary activities. With all of this in mind, is it any wonder that, on average, people gain 2-5lbs (1-2.5kg) over this hol...

Pre-bariatric surgery weight loss: Useful, Necessary, or a Waste of Time? Bariatric Surgery is the most effective method of achieving sustained weight loss over the long term in patients with obesity when compared to lifestyle interventions and pharmacotherapy. Despite the strong evidence, from clinical studies and randomised controlled trials, of the benefits of bariatric surgery on weight and metabolism, access to bariatric surgery remains limited in many health care systems including the UK. In the UK, patients seeking bariatric surgery are mandated to go through tier 3 weight management services (typically community based, non-surgical weight management services) before referrals are made to tier 4 (i.e. bariatric surgery). Tier 3 is supposed to consist of a multidisciplinary team including but not limited to bariatric physicians, weight management dietitians, psychologists, specialist nurses and physiotherapists. There are several objectives of tier 3 services an...

Writing this has been something I have been a little nervous about doing. As a GP I intensely dislike reading articles about how bad we are at doing certain things and so I didn’t want to just write one of those. As someone who has been significantly overweight and who talks to others in that position, I am acutely aware that a large part of the health profession and in fact the system as a whole is letting down a large number of those who approach it for help with the chronic disease that is obesity. I should start by explaining that I had a gastric sleeve operation in April 2017. It has been life changing for me and I bring that experience and those of being an overweight patient as well as a GP looking after patients with weight problems into this blog. Like many people I had tried for years to lose weight and had been successful many times. But also like mamy people, in fact 95% of those who are obese and lose weight, it soul-destroyingly all went back on again with extra. ...

Body image after bariatric surgery How is body image defined? There are four different components (perceptual, cognitive, emotional and behavioural) that form our body image. ·          The perceptual component refers to the way in which we visualize our bodies (this is often inaccurate, or we become hyper-focused on specific areas). ·          Cognitive aspects focus on the thoughts, beliefs and judgements that individuals have about their appearance. ·          The emotional component is how someone feels about the way they look, ranging from pride to disgust. ·          The behavioural aspect relates to the actions someone takes because of their body image. This may include avoidance of situations, mirrors etc. It can also include eating behaviours such as restriction and emotionally driven eating....