Why is EBM important? So we don't have to read uncritically-presented
stupid stories like this one:
http://mp.medscape.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/e4om0ItiQo0F6D0HfWO0G2
ASBS MEETING COVERAGE
Morbid Obesity Much More Risky Than Bariatric Surgery
Morbidly obese patients who do not undergo weight-loss surgery face a
substantially greater mortality risk than patients who undergo bariatric
surgery, according to a presentation this week at the 23rd annual
meeting of the American Society for Bariatric Surgery in San Francisco.
Reuters Health Information 2006
If one goes to the Medscape link, the presentation relies on comparing
mortality among people who showed up at a clinic and eventually had
bariatric surgery to those who came and were evaluated and did not.
"Dr. Reinhold, chairman of the Department of Surgery at the Hospital of
Saint Raphael in New Haven, Connecticut, and his colleagues reviewed the
records of patients who were morbidly obese and had been seen in their
clinic between 1997 and 2004. According to their meeting abstract, 1438
patients were evaluated, and 207 never returned for surgery. During
follow-up the investigators were able to contact 101 patients or their
family members to document outcomes of those who went untreated. . ."
regards,
Anne Peticolas
Austin, Texas
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