Vienna: There are more than 670
million people worldwide who are obese – with serious consequences for
themselves and an enormous cost to the healthcare system. A recent
MedUni Vienna study, conducted jointly with the Institute of
Pharmaceutical Economic Research (Evelyn Walter) and the Austrian
Society of Bariatric Surgery and led by Gerhard Prager (Department of
Surgery), shows that bariatric surgery, such as a gastric bypass, for
example, not only saves a lot of money but also improves quality-of-life
and extends life expectancy. On 26 May 2018, there will be an action
day for obesity patients and interested parties in MedUni Vienna's
Lecture Center in Vienna General Hospital.
If left untreated, morbid obesity leads to many secondary
diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, fatty liver or
hyperlipidaemia (a generally elevated blood concentration of cholesterol
and triglycerides). In the current study, accurate calculations have
now shown that a metabolic surgical intervention, performed at the right
time, can save a lot of money and suffering. "We calculated what would
happen in 20 years time, if this intervention were not made, the costs
that obese patients would save and their gain in terms of extended life
expectancy," explains Prager, who is also Head of the Obesity Outpatient
Clinic in Vienna General Hospital.
The main findings: the
saving is €24,600 per patient in costs associated with the condition.
Every patient who has developed diabetes over these 20 years gains an
extra 3.7 years of life; every patient who has developed cardiovascular
disease gains an extra 3.4 years of life; every patient who has
developed fatty liver gains an extra 3.7 years of life; and patients who
have developed hyperlipidaemia over these 20 years gain approximately
an extra year of life.
People are considered obese when they
have a body mass index (BMI) in excess of 30 but the Health Insurance
Fund will only fund the cost of the operation from a BMI of 35, plus a
diagnosis of diabetes (without diabetes from a BMI of 40 kg/m²). The
MedUni Vienna experts would like to see the Swiss protocol applied in
Austria: there the Health Insurance Fund will pay from a BMI of 35
upwards without any further conditions being imposed. Around 400 such
operations are carried out each year at the Department of Surgery of
MedUni Vienna/Vienna General Hospital, whereas twice this number would
be desirable, says Prager. Throughout the whole of Austria, 3,500 such
interventions are performed each year, in Switzerland this number is
6,000.
Says Prager: "This will save our healthcare system a
great deal of money. Not least because it will mean far fewer patients
go on to ultimately develop cancer – and this applies to women in
particular."
The operation has been shown to have lasting
beneficial consequences: "Our studies show that the long-term effects
make gastric bypass the most effective treatment for more severe
obesity. Even ten years on from the operation, most patients are
considerably lighter than they were before it."
Event: Obesity Action Day on 26 May 2018
On
Saturday, 26 May 2018 (10:00 to 15:00 hrs) the experts from MedUni
Vienna and Vienna General Hospital are inviting people suffering from
obesity and interested parties to Obesity Action Day (www.meduniwien.ac.at/adipositastag)
in the Lecture Center in Vienna General Hospital (Level 8, Währinger
Gürtel 18-20, 1090 Vienna). The day will include an opportunity to visit
an operating theatre and "perform" an operation on a simulation device
plus fatty liver, blood sugar and bioimpedance measurements will be on
offer, as well as numerous talks. Admission is free. The ECO (European
Congress on Obesity) will be taking place immediately beforehand (23 –
25 May) in the Hofburg Congress Center, Vienna.
For more information: http://eco2018.easo.org and www.meduniwien.ac.at/adipositastag