Medical Innovations Summit 2010
I am not obese, you quietly reassure yourself. Sure, I’m heavier than when I got married; maybe I even need to lose a few pounds to fit back into my clothes again. But obese?
Denial does not help. Being active does – like enrolling in weight loss programs, visiting your medical provider, investigating new medication and medical devices, and possibly bariatric surgery. Alarmingly, the trends toward excess weight and obesity have significantly increased in prevalence throughout the United States. These conditions have serious consequences – more health risks and complications creating a tremendous burden for the patient. As a result, more healthcare dollars are spent.
Obesity is defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater. BMI, the amount of body fat, is determined based on height in proportion to weight. Obesity can simply be defined as being 30 pounds overweight and severe obesity as 75-100 pounds overweight. Measuring obesity by state in 2009, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported the rate for obesity in Ohio at 28.8 percent of the population. Colorado had the lowest rate of 18.6 percent and Mississippi had the highest rate with 34.4 percent.
An unusual but timely topic for a national conference, the 8th Medical Innovations Summit held Mon 11/1 – Wed 11/3 and hosted by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation (CCF), is highlighting the metabolic crisis of obesity and diabetes. Over 1,000 medical practitioners, researchers, investors, and pharmaceutical and medical device company representatives will be in attendance to present and learn about new strategies in addressing these problems.
According to Dr. Philip Schauer, medical chair for the upcoming Summit and director of the CCF Bariatric and Metabolic Institute, close to 2/3 of all Americans are overweight. “We’re not talking about people who want to look good in bikinis,” said Schauer. “Obesity, a leading driver for diabetes, is one of the largest health and economic epidemics in this country. Along with type 2 diabetes, there are increased risks for high blood pressure, strokes, sleep apnea, pressure on joints, and premature morbidity. An estimated 13 percent of Americans have type 2 diabetes,” he said.
There are enormous health consequences as a result of obesity. According to the American Diabetes Association, close to 18 million children and adults have been diagnosed with diabetes and another 5.7 million people have not been diagnosed yet.
Some of the new medical developments for treating obesity include endoscopically placing a tube through the mouth to surgically reduce the size of the stomach. Another approach involves inserting a sleeve into the small intestine as a barrier to stop the absorption of calories. New laparoscopic abdominal procedures to treat severe obesity have also been developed.
“In type 2 diabetes, the pancreas already has a particular genetic programming. The added excess weight reduces the pancreas’s ability to produce insulin and the insulin produced does not work as effectively,” said Dr. Laurence (Ned) Kennedy, chair of the CCF Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism. “Even though diabetes has become a prevalent condition, it could be largely prevented by making the right intervention. Over the next 10 years with these new improvements in medication and bariatric surgery, the microvascular effects of diabetes on the eyes, kidneys, and peripheral nerves contributing to amputation, kidney transplant, blindness, cholesterol, heart attack, and stroke will significantly decrease,” he added. Over recent years, people have eaten more, exercised less, and we are seeing the effects, Kennedy commented.
Chris Coburn, executive director of Cleveland Clinic Innovations, said, “This Summit is gaining the attention of the decision-makers and opinion leaders throughout the healthcare industry. We believe the research behind these presentations and the emerging companies will influence the treatment of obesity and diabetes for years to come. Everyone will be excited to learn about the state-of-the-art, next generation of technologies. The top ten medical innovations for 2011 will also be presented at this conference.”
The Cleveland Clinic Medical Innovations Summit runs Mon 11/1 through Wed 11/3. For more information, please visit http://ClevelandClinic.org/innovations/summit.
From Cool Cleveland contributor Susan Schaul, who says the act of writing is like assembling a jigsaw puzzle. The challenge lies in getting the pieces to fit together and make sense.