(Press-News.org) A new study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine has identified demographic, socioeconomic and cultural factors that contribute to a major gender disparity among U.S. men and women undergoing weight loss surgeries. Men undergo the surgeries in far lower numbers than women.
The study is published in the March issue of the Journal of Laparoendoscopic & Advanced Surgical Techniques.
Eighty percent of patients who undergo bariatric surgery, which involve procedures that either limit the amount of food that can be consumed or reduce food absorption, are female, despite equal rates of obesity among American men and women.
"The results of this study should raise awareness in men about the complications that obesity brings to their health," said senior author Santiago Horgan, MD, chief of the Division of Minimally Invasive Surgery at UC San Diego Health System. "Even though we have a 50-50 percent split in obesity rates among U.S. men and women, women get 80 percent of the bariatric surgeries and men only 20 percent. That's a very uneven distribution."
Horgan said the study explored non-biological factors that may be causing fewer men to seek weight reduction surgery. Among the factors identified that may influence gender distribution: surgery eligibility, insurance coverage, health awareness and perception of body image. Age was also a factor.
The researchers examined data from 190,705 U.S. patients who underwent bariatric surgery (93 percent gastric bypass, 7 percent sleeve gastrectomy) from 1998-2010.
"We think some of it is cultural," said Horgan. "Women seem to be more aware of the problems obesity brings to health. They are much more willing to look at surgical weight loss earlier in life, whereas men tend to wait until they have more co-morbidities (adverse health conditions)."
He pointed to a 2014 study from Kansas State University showing differences in health satisfaction between obese men and women. That study found that 72.8 percent-94.0 percent of overweight and obese men were satisfied with their health as compared to 56.7 percent-85.0 percent of overweight and obese women.
"This skewed male body perception hinders the likelihood of seeking healthcare advice," said Horgan. "This is something we hope to change by educating men about the need to treat obesity earlier, so they don't develop complications in the future."
"Bariatric surgery contributes to improving medical conditions associated with obesity, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, and arthritis. Men need to wake-up to the need to control their obesity."
Age also plays a pivotal role in the gender differences, said co-author Cristina Harnsberger, MD, of the UC San Diego Department of Surgery's Division of Minimally Invasive Surgery, noting more men seek bariatric surgery as they age. "There are still more women than men, but when people get into their 70s, the split narrows to about 70 percent women to 30 percent men," she said. "Once they get sicker and older, men begin to seek bariatric surgery in greater numbers."
Another possible explanation for the higher rate of females undergoing bariatric surgery is greater eligibility, said the researchers. A recent analysis of racial trends in U.S. bariatric surgery by Medical University of South Carolina researchers found an overall larger proportion of females were eligible for the surgery from 1999-2010. According to the National Hospital Discharge Survey and National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey databases, the proportion held true across ethnic groups.
The scientists did note that race and income appeared to affect male to female surgery ratios within certain populations. "A significantly higher female percentage was observed in counties with lower median income as well as in some ethnic groups," said Hans Fuchs, MD, co-first author with Ryan Broderick, MD, both of the UC San Diego Division of Minimally Invasive Surgery. "This suggests that cultural differences and racial differences may accentuate the gender disparity," added Broderick.
INFORMATION:
Co-authors include Bryan J. Sandler, Garth R. Jacobsen, and David C. Chang, all at UCSD.
DURHAM, N.C. -- The adage "out of sight, out of mind" applies to electricity use, according to new research from Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy.
A study of 16 years of billing records from one South Carolina utility found that residential customers using automatic bill payments consumed 4 to 6 percent more power than those who did not. Commercial electricity customers used 8 percent more. And low-income residents who enrolled in budget billing to spread the cost of seasonal peak demand across the year used 7 percent more electricity.
"It's a perverse ...
What do you do when a patient needs a blood transfusion but you don't have their blood type in the blood bank? It's a problem that scientists have been trying to solve for years but haven't been able to find an economic solution - until now.
University of British Columbia chemists and scientists in the Centre for Blood Research have created an enzyme that could potentially solve this problem. The enzyme works by snipping off the sugars, also known as antigens, found in Type A and Type B blood, making it more like Type O. Type O blood is known as the universal donor and ...
DETROIT - Nearly half of foodborne illnesses in the U.S. from 1998 through 2008 have been attributed to contaminated fresh produce. Prevention and control of bacterial contamination on fresh produce is critical to ensure food safety. The current strategy remains industrial washing of the product in water containing chlorine. However, due to sanitizer ineffectiveness there is an urgent need to identify alternative antimicrobials, particularly those of natural origin, for the produce industry.
A team of researchers at Wayne State University have been exploring natural, ...
Black and Hispanic patients will less frequently than white patients start hemodialysis with an arteriovenous fistula (connecting an artery to a vein for vascular access), a procedure for initial blood flow access known to result in superior outcomes compared with either catheters or arteriovenous grafts, according to a report published online by JAMA Surgery.
End-stage kidney disease affected more than 593,000 people in the United States in 2010 and more than 383,000 of them were treated with hemodialysis, a process that replaces the blood filtering usually done by the ...
A high-dose treatment of sodium nitrite, 6 percent, with citric acid, 9 percent, creams applied twice daily was more effective than placebo for treating the common sexually transmitted disease of anogenital warts, according to an article published online by JAMA Dermatology.
The warts are caused by infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) types 6 and 11 in more than 90 percent of cases. Topical therapies and surgical removal of the warts are associated with local adverse reactions that include itching, burning, pain and erosions. Recurrence with existing therapies is ...
ITHACA, N.Y. - Imagine a hand-held electronic device - accessible, portable and nearly universal - that could reduce pain and discomfort for patients, and allow doctors the freedom to use less powerful and potentially risky medications to complement anesthesia.
Now reach in your pocket, because chances are you already own one.
According to new research from a team led by Communications and Information Science Professor Jeff Hancock and Cornell doctoral student Jamie Guillory (now at RTI International), the simple act of texting someone on a mobile phone during a minor ...
The National Emphysema Treatment Trial (NETT) was a multicenter, randomized, controlled clinical trial comparing the efficacy of lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS) plus medical management with rehabilitation to medical management plus rehabilitation in patients with severe emphysema. In 2003, the results of NETT demonstrated that LVRS could improve lung function in patients with emphysema, and that the procedure led to improved survival. Yet, adoption of LVRS has been very slow with concerns expressed regarding safety and long-term efficacy. In this presentation, Dr. ...
Every day, thousands of people need donated blood. But only blood without A- or B-type antigens, such as type O, can be given to all of those in need, and it's usually in short supply. Now scientists are making strides toward fixing the situation. In ACS' Journal of the American Chemical Society, they report an efficient way to transform A and B blood into a neutral type that can be given to any patient.
Stephen G. Withers and colleagues note that currently, blood transfusions require that the blood type of the donor match that of the recipient. If they aren't the same, ...
Marketers often use positive emotions such as hope, pride, love, and compassion interchangeably to encourage people to donate to charitable causes. But these distinct emotions can lead to different results, and love alone has the power to inspire giving to those with whom the giver has no connection, according to a new study in the Journal of Marketing Research.
"Love is unique among positive emotions in fostering a feeling of connectedness," write authors Lisa A. Cavanaugh (University of Southern California), James R. Bettman (Duke University), and Mary Frances Luce ...
When consumers taste cheap wine and rate it highly because they believe it is expensive, is it because prejudice has blinded them to the actual taste, or has prejudice actually changed their brain function, causing them to experience the cheap wine in the same physical way as the expensive wine? Research in the Journal of Marketing Research has shown that preconceived beliefs may create a placebo effect so strong that the actual chemistry of the brain changes.
"Studies have shown that people enjoy identical products such as wine or chocolate more if they have a higher ...
