Lap-Band may become option for people who are overweight

The Lap-Band is a safe and effective weight-loss option for people who are overweight to get their weight under control and are (or will) experience chronic health issues, such as diabetes, high cholesterol, and heart disease.

An advisory committee to the Food and Drug Administration will consider on Friday a request by Allergan, the pharmaceutical company, to significantly lower how obese someone must be to qualify for surgery using the company’s Lap-Band device, which restricts intake to the stomach, nytimes.com reported

Lap-Band may become option for people who are overweight

According to bloomberg.com, the Lap-Band is implanted around the upper part of the stomach through laparoscopic incisions that are less invasive than gastric-bypass or stomach-stapling surgeries. The device is approved for people who are at least 100 pounds (45 kilograms) overweight, have a body mass index of at least 40, or have a BMI of at least 35 with obesity-related conditions such as heart problems.

A BMI of 40 is about equivalent to a 5-foot 9-inch (175- centimeter) person who weighs 270 pounds, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, based in Bethesda, Maryland. The index, used to estimate what constitutes a healthy weight based on an individual’s height, is weight in pounds times 703 divided by the square of height in inches.

“You’re talking about millions and millions of people who would meet these criteria,” said Dr. George Blackburn, associate director of the division of nutrition at Harvard Medical School. “Let’s make sure by the most rigorous research that this is safe and effective.”

Meanwhile, medpagetoday.com also wrote, most of the weight loss is expected to occur within the first year after a patient has the Lap-Band implanted. However, the device appears able to help patients maintain a stable weight and "thus, may have a potential to significantly impact comorbidities that are frequently associated with obesity," FDA reviewers said.

Allergan, is a multi-specialty health care company that develops pharmaceuticals and medical devices. They are well known in the realm of body enhancement, not only with their Lap-Band device, but as the manufacturers of Botox, which smoothes wrinkles by paralyzing facial muscles; Latisse, a cosmetic treatment to enhance lashes, by making them longer, thicker, and darker; and, Juvederm, a dermal filler that reduces wrinkles and restores a youthful appearance, as reports on healthnews.com