#obsmuk #twitter chat

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disorder affecting up to one in five women of reproductive age [1]. PCOS is diagnosed according to The Rotterdam diagnostic criteria and is based on two of three features: infrequent periods or lack of ovulation, hyperandrogenism features such as excess facial hair or acne, and polycystic ovaries visible on a scan [2].  Obesity is unlikely to be a cause of PCOS as demonstrated by the prevalence of lean women with the condition.  However, having obesity does exacerbate the condition and increase the risk of other serious health problems [3].  Obesity is a common finding in PCOS with estimates of between 40% to 80% of women with PCOS having overweight or obesity [4]. PCOS is associated with several metabolic complications including pre-diabetes, Type II Diabetes and obesity [5].  Having PCOS also increases the risk of Heart Disease, Fatty Liver Disease and Uterine (womb) Cancer [6–8].  The etiology of the ...

Communicating about weight – can we bring patients and healthcare professionals together in support? Obesity is a medical condition described as excess body weight in the form of fat. When accumulated, this fat can lead to severe health impairments. The prevalence of obesity across the world continues to rise, and this is now recognised as one of the most important public health problems facing the world today. Subsequently, conversations about obesity between patients affected by obesity and healthcare professionals is an important and necessary aspect of at least some of their encounters. However, it isn’t easy for healthcare professionals or for patients to talk about weight and we know there are many reasons for this. Research shows that healthcare professionals worry that talking about weight might upset patients, as if they are delivering bad news. In turn, patients of a higher weight can often feel shamed and blamed. More research is needed o...

Alcohol and other addictions after bariatric surgery Bariatric surgery is the most effective treatment for obesity in regards to weight loss and treatment of obesity related conditions. Perhaps more importantly, it is safe with a low risk of complications and death. However, the evidence on longer-term outcomes following bariatric surgery has evolved and there is a growing awareness of the psychological difficulties that can arise following surgery, including addictive behaviours that are the topic of the forthcoming #obsmuk chat. The types of addictive behaviours that have been discussed following surgery include alcohol, shopping, gambling, sexual behaviour, exercise etc.  The concept of “addiction transfer” following surgery is a widely held lay belief. It is based on the premise that the individual’s presumed pre-operative addiction to food is transformed into an addiction to other substances or behaviours after surgery (Mitchell et al., 2015).  This ...

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is accumulation of fat in the liver.   NAFLD is part of the metabolic syndrome, characterised by diabetes or pre-diabetes (insulin resistance), affected by   overweight or obesity, hypertension and hyperlipidaemia, and is more common in people with these other features.   There is a spectrum of disease ranging from just fat in the liver (steatosis) to a more progressive form of the disease, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) – this is where the fat in the liver is associated with inflammation and liver damage.   Over time this can lead to fibrosis or scarring.   Progressive fibrosis leads to cirrhosis with all its associated complications -jaundice, ascites, encephalopathy (confusion), varices (mainly in the oesophagus/gullet) and hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer). NAFLD affects approximately 30% of the population, 70% of people affected by type 2 diabetes and over 90% of patients with a BMI of over 30. ...

Genetics of Obesity   Before we begin, let’s explain some of the terms we will be seeing a lot in this discussion. Genetics is the study of genes, and how characteristics can be passed on from one generation to the next. Genes are segments of DNA that contain information. Some genes hold the instructions for building proteins that influence our characteristics, like how we look or how we behave. Changes can occur to the sequence of genes that may affect their function. Some genes have a few different versions of sequence which are normal in the population (present in more than 1% of people), these are ‘polymorphisms’- for example human blood group type. When the DNA change occurs rarely (in less than 1% of the population) then we call it a ‘mutation’. The prevalence of obesity has risen with increasing access to calorie-dense foods and a decline in energy expenditure; the ‘obesogenic environment’. However, if environment and behavioural factors were the only cause...

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...