SAN DIEGO – According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), African Americans have a 51 percent greater prevalence of obesity than Caucasians of non-Hispanic descent, and Hispanics had a 21 percent greater prevalence of obesity when compared to non-Hispanic whites. This pattern was consistent across most of the United States.
In obese or severely overweight individuals, physicians and bariatric surgeons have long suspected that genetics, in addition to inactivity and poor nutrition, are to blame. To what degree each factor plays a part in weight gain is still unknown.
“As a physician, I have long known that a family history of obesity is an indicator that a person may become severely overweight or clinically obese,” said Eugene Rumsey, MD, FACS, surgeon at Pacific Bariatric Surgical Medical Group and Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego. “It is true for many other diseases, such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes, and we must approach the treatment of obesity with the same tenacity.”
According to the CDC, 34 percent of all U.S. adults over 20 years of age are considered obese. Morbid obesity is closely correlated with a number of serious conditions that severely undermine the health of overweight patients, including heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. Bariatric surgery performed by bypass surgeons is widely accepted as the most effective surgical weight-loss treatment available and is considered the gold standard to alleviate severe obesity.
Surgeons at Pacific Bariatric Surgical Medical Group have performed more than 12,000 procedures on adult and adolescent patients at Scripps Mercy Hospital. As a result of outstanding aftercare programs and support groups, patients at Pacific Bariatric and Scripps Mercy Hospital see a slightly higher success rate than the national average.
Established in 1890 by the Sisters of Mercy, Scripps Mercy Hospital serves the San Diego and Chula Vista communities. With 700 licensed beds, more than 3,000 employees and 1,300 physicians, Scripps Mercy Hospital is San Diego’s longest established and only Catholic medical center. With two campuses, Scripps Mercy Hospital is the largest hospital in San Diego County and one of the 10 largest in California. For more information, visit www.scripps.org.
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