Swiss1Chirurgie informs patients and endocrinologists
New set of rules for obesity surgery
From 01 January 2021, it will be possible to have obesity surgery from a BMI of 30+ with concomitant type 2 diabetes. One of the prerequisites is that diabetes can no longer be safely controlled by conventional means. Only a few specialist clinics are authorised to perform such operations. This also includes the clinics of Swiss1Chirurgie, which offer such procedures in the Helvetia Holding AG network. Learn more about the BAG’s decision.
Overweight surgery possible from BMI 30 with diabetes as of 2021
Being overweight is not something to be trifled with. All those affected know this just as well as we do as medical specialists. For years, the experts at Swiss1Chirurgie have been observing the development of obesity in modern industrialised countries. It is becoming increasingly clear that the proportion of overweight people is growing. Associated with this are not only the individual restrictions and complaints. Healthy societies quickly become sick societies through an oversupply of food at any time in any place and correspondingly wrong nutritional behaviour, whose lack is above all abundance.
So far, health insurers and medical organisations, together with politicians in Switzerland, have agreed that surgical interventions to reduce weight are only possible for a BMI of 35 or higher and are financed accordingly. It was completely ignored that a BMI of 35 or more is already an enormously high value, which is already associated with numerous secondary diseases and complaints. Such concomitant diseases not only complicate the lives of the patients themselves, but are often also a clear obstacle in the preparation and implementation of necessary obesity surgery.
From 2021 the threshold is BMI 30
In accordance with the interventions of the medical specialists and a close observation of the development, the politicians together with the medical profession have decided to lower the threshold value for bariatric surgery in the context of obesity surgery now to a BMI of 30, provided that the patients are affected by diabetes at the same time.
This long overdue decision will benefit patients who, despite being diagnosed with obesity and the corresponding symptoms, were previously not included in the group of patients for whom obesity surgery was an option.
This means that a wide range of conditions closely related to obesity can be treated much sooner and necessary and desired surgical interventions can also be carried out. This will have a lasting impact on the quality of life of people with a BMI over 30 and diabetes, and ultimately reduce the proportion of severely overweight people, along with the social and economic costs.
Advantages especially for humans
The decisive advantages of this decision now lie above all with those people who, with a BMI of 30 or more and diabetes, are already clearly affected by morbid obesity. Now the suffering of these people can be significantly shortened. This is also because it obviously does not make sense to wait for an enormously high BMI of 35 and more until a surgical intervention for weight reduction is made possible by the regulations.
A major advantage of this decision is that the extent of overweight and the associated concomitant and secondary diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and arthrosis can be significantly reduced. The psychological suffering can also be significantly shortened and patients with a BMI of 30 or more with diabetes may now place themselves in the hands of the experienced specialists in obesity surgery. The Swiss1Chirurgie clinics are among the specialist medical clinics that will be authorised to perform surgical procedures to reduce excess weight from a BMI of 30 with diabetes from 01.01.2021.
Determine your BMI here and find out whether and under what conditions you belong to the circle of possible candidates for obesity surgery.
In addition, we recommend that all severely overweight people contact a Swiss1Chirurgie clinic. By doing so, you will take the first step towards a better, healthier future in 2021 and use the possibilities of modern medicine to improve your life.
Contact Swiss1Chirurgie here.
Aftercare in the focus of obesity surgery
Interview with Dr Steffen, ZfbC
In an in-depth interview, Dr Steffen from the Centre for Bariatric Surgery ZfbC discusses the importance of follow-up care for overweight patients. In addition to the actual bariatric surgery, structured aftercare is of enormous importance. Only if those affected are actively involved in the process throughout their lives is sustainable success possible. A detailed article on the interview and the interview with Dr Steffen himself can be found here.
New information page for patients: www.nachsorge.ch
Aftercare in the focus of obesity surgery
Anyone who talks about bariatric surgery, such as stomach reduction or the formation of a tube stomach, must also talk about professional aftercare and further treatment for patients.
This is exactly what Dr Steffen from the ZfbC, Centre for Bariatric Surgery, does in the featured video interview. With over 30 years of experience and 3,600 stomach operations performed himself in the field of obesity surgery, Dr Steffen is one of the leading luminaries in this medical speciality in Switzerland.
Evaluation of the risks
Whether gastric banding, gastric bypass, stomach reduction or other techniques, there is always a certain risk of relapse for the treated patients. It is precisely the reduction of the recidivism rate, ZfbC, when it comes to professional aftercare following obesity surgery. Dr Steffen makes this unmistakably clear.
Obesity treatment is a lifelong process
It should also be clear that after an initial operation for the majority of those affected, there will be further interventions to ensure the success of obesity surgery. At the same time, this means that in the majority of cases, surgery alone will not be enough for the rest of one’s life. Accordingly, it is important to accompany and care for the patients continuously and individually in the aftercare.
Children in obesity surgery
According to Dr Steffen, children are not excluded from the problem of morbid obesity. Fat children usually also become fat adults, so that early intervention can make sense if there is an appropriate indication. It is important to note that the rules and regulations for bariatric surgery must also be observed for minors.
Follow-up care is the decisive success factor
Dr Steffen believes that ongoing follow-up care is more important than the timing of the surgical intervention. From experience, he knows that many patients do not take proper care of themselves after an initial overweight operation has been performed. However, it is also the professional colleagues who must be held accountable, as they do not always focus on special aftercare in their further care. Here, the ZfbC can definitely fill treatment gaps. One should understand morbid obesity similarly to an incurable disease, so that a good strategy for lifelong aftercare must be presented here as well. What Dr. Steffen cannot understand is the fact that he repeatedly encounters patients who are left alone in their problem situation after obesity surgery and are not sufficiently perceived.
Accordingly, the ZfbC would also like to open up to patients who have not been treated in a Swiss1Chirurgie clinic or an affiliated clinic. Here, anyone who complains about a wide range of problems after bariatric surgery should get a sympathetic ear and professional support. What definitely does not work is that patients are simply left to their own devices after obesity surgery with reference to their diet programme. This contradicts every ethical and medical claim.
It should also be clear in this context that anyone who cannot successfully deal with their excess weight before an operation will not be able to do so without help even after the operation has taken place.
Understanding aftercare as a standard
For Swiss1Chirurgie, structured aftercare is part of the standard in obesity surgery. Even though this is unfortunately not the case everywhere, the experts at Swiss1Chirurgie, together with the ZfbC, attach great importance to professional and structured aftercare in the best interests of the patient. This is the only way to ensure initial success, to identify problems in time and to build on the long-term success of the therapy. Anything else doesn’t make much sense.
It is also worth noting that deficiency symptoms can always occur due to the way the different treatment methods work. Such processes must of course be monitored and controlled to show patients how to compensate for certain deficiencies such as calcium deficiency or vitamin deficiency.
Follow-up care for overweight patients is a team effort at ZfbC. In addition to Dr Steffen himself, other specialist colleagues also devote themselves to the patients’ problems in special aftercare consultations. Around 8,000 patients are now being cared for. In the regulations, the Federal Office of Public Health requires follow-up over five years. However, the experts at Swiss1Chirurgie know that, in fact, lifelong follow-up of patients is sensible and necessary. Here, the legislative requirements obviously fall short.
Complications can occur at any time
The problems of the individual patients are very different. The aftercare must be correspondingly individualised. Some of the problems are real complications such as chronic abdominal pain, persistent diarrhoea, deficiency symptoms, vomiting or other functional problems. In principle, every affected person must expect that some kind of problems will occur over a short or longer period of time. Even if this ultimately does not affect everyone, it is still a clear proportion of patients who have to deal with certain problems after obesity surgery.
Alcohol and obesity
As Dr Steffen clearly explains, alcohol has a special effect on obesity and even more so on patients treated accordingly. In his opinion, alcohol has just as high a caloric value as pure fat, in addition to the typical symptoms of intoxication. Accordingly, it makes little sense or is even counterproductive for overweight patients to consume alcohol beyond a low level. The best thing would be to abstain completely from alcohol. This is also the aim of good aftercare.
With every intervention, the risk increases
Regarding the general risks in obesity surgery, Dr Steffen emphasises that laproscopic surgery as such is first of all extremely safe and associated with only a few risks. The first operation is always less risky than every subsequent one, although it also depends on how experienced the surgeons are in the respective clinics. Much more common are the complications that can occur after the procedures. First and foremost are deficiency symptoms, digestive problems and problems in the area of the oesophagus. This must always be expected after obesity surgery, which is why lifelong aftercare is also sensible and recommended. This must also be clear to the general practitioners and is already addressed in the first educational discussion.
Obesity and Corona
Currently, the corona virus plays a significant role in society as a whole. Those who are overweight must expect a more severe course after an infection due to their physical constitution. If overweight people already have breathing problems, these will certainly be even greater with COVID disease, even more so with assisted or artificial ventilation. It is difficult to decide not to operate on overweight people now, as they will then be much more affected in the event of an infection later on.
The role of general practitioners
The first way for overweight people who want to improve their situation is always to see their family doctor. The latter will then make a referral to the specialists in the given case. Here, the Swiss1Chirurgie clinics are recommended as competence centres for bariatric surgery. The family doctor could also be the first point of contact for appropriate information to the patient. In addition, we as Swiss1Chirurgie offer a comprehensive information service for all those affected. This ranges from our special consultation hours to the detailed and extensive information on the internet and via our app. However, information about any site or place on the internet is always associated with the risk of getting the wrong information. Here, Dr Steffen likes to refer to the pages of Swiss1Chirurgie, which, in contrast to any forums or chat rooms, provide extremely professionally correct, comprehensive and structured information.
Overweight patients need long follow-up care
Swiss1Chirurgie offers aftercare following obesity surgery
From their many years of experience, the specialists at Swiss1Chirurgie know that many patients do not receive any or only inadequate medical aftercare following obesity surgery. In this context, consistent and regular follow-up care of patients is enormously important if the success of gastric surgery is not to be gambled away. Furthermore, complications after bariatric surgery can endanger the health or even the life of the patients concerned.
Based on this knowledge, the Swiss1Chirurgie clinics offer continuous follow-up care and treatment for patients, even if they have not been operated on in a Siwss1Chirurgie clinic. In this way, the Swiss1Chirurgie clinics make a valuable and important contribution to the sustainable success of obesity therapy for all patients who have not yet received regular, long-term follow-up care.
Swiss1Chirurgie offers an end-to-end treatment concept
Those who face up to their obesity problem must also be aware that successful long-term treatment is an ongoing process that also requires specialist medical support. Especially when the problem of morbid obesity is associated with surgical interventions, long and professional aftercare is needed.
Time and again we meet patients in the Swiss1Chirurgie clinics who are left to their own devices after bariatric surgery. And yet, especially after stomach reduction or similar surgical procedures, it is urgently necessary to accompany and care for these patients in their further development.
After the operation comes the actual treatment
In cases of morbid obesity, surgical treatment is always only one of many steps to improve the health of the affected person. Even in the run-up to the surgical procedures, we work together with the patients to ensure that the conditions for the stomach operation can be created. Once the operation is over, however, the process continues.
In addition to the regular discussions and examinations in the follow-up care, it is not uncommon for further interventions to be necessary if the success of the first stomach operation is not to be jeopardised. In many cases, follow-up operations are even part of the treatment concept and are designed to ensure overall success in the treatment of obesity.
Accordingly, thorough counselling, care and support for patients after the first operation is not an optional extra, but a must. For the sake of the patients, their health and their efforts to achieve an improved quality of life.
Aftercare is often neglected
As already noted, we repeatedly come across patients from other clinics where follow-up care after obesity surgery is clearly neglected or, in the worst case, not carried out at all. This not only poses risks to the success of the obesity surgery, but can even be life-threatening.
Complications that are recognised too late or not at all, unabated inappropriate dietary behaviour and a number of other reasons lead to the success of the stomach operation being gambled away and, in an emergency, the patient’s life being put at risk. We therefore urge all patients who have undergone obesity surgery to contact one of the Swiss1Chirurgie clinics with their problems in the event that follow-up care is lacking or inadequate. Online you will find a simple questionnaire that will give you first clues and possibilities for a professional and continuous aftercare. Use this questionnaire to get into initial contact with us.
Swiss1Chirurgie takes over the aftercare
Knowing that many patients do not receive consistent and long-term follow-up care after a surgical procedure related to an obesity problem, we offer such regular and professional follow-up care for all obesity patients.
This offer also expressly applies to patients who have undergone an operation for obesity surgery at another clinic. In this way, we want to ensure that all patients receive exactly the follow-up care and treatment that is appropriate to their particular situation. After all, the long-term success of obesity surgery is always based on professional, regular and lasting aftercare.
As an affected patient, contact us to schedule an initial consultation. Ideally, you should fill in our online questionnaire. We will then contact you as soon as possible to discuss the further steps of targeted obesity therapy, even after an obesity operation has already been performed.
Find out more at nachsorge.ch
Learn what is being done before any obesity surgery
Bariatric curriculum prepares for obesity surgery
With the newly created Bariatric Curriculum, the ZfbC, Thun Abdominal Surgery and Swiss1Chirurgie prepare their patients even better for the upcoming obesity surgery. In a seminar, all questions regarding preparation and execution, anaesthesia and the time after the surgical intervention are answered and essential procedures are explained. More information and safety are the objectives of the Bariatric Curriculum, which was developed especially for the overweight patients.
Every operation is a serious procedure that always involves certain risks. This also applies to bariatric surgery, even if it can be carried out minimally invasively in large numbers, i.e. without large surgical openings of the abdominal wall.
Many patients have a great interest in knowing how such operations are carried out and what is actually done. This is less about the specific techniques and procedures. Rather, patients are interested in how such an operation is prepared, how it proceeds and what risks are to be expected. And it is also interesting how to behave after such an intervention.
In order to be able to cover this justified interest as far as possible, the Centre for Bariatric Surgery ZfbC, the Abdominal Surgery Thun and Swiss1Chirurgie, under the essential leadership of Dr. med. Sebastien Trachsel, have developed a Bariatric Curriculum, which can provide answers to the most important but also personal questions of patients. This will make a significant contribution to more information, education and patient safety.
What the Bariatric Curriculum does
Anyone preparing for obesity surgery has many questions. The better such questions can be answered, the greater the patient’s confidence in dealing with the upcoming operation. Patients can take part in this bariatric curriculum as early as two to three weeks before the planned surgery.
The short but very informative seminar explains which clinical procedures are required and how the anaesthesia will proceed. In addition, of course, there is the general information provided by the surgeon, so that after about two hours of seminar the patients are well prepared for their individual operation. Of course, this does not exclude personal counselling and care directly at the clinic. Rather, this is part of the preparation for the operation and helps to objectively classify concerns, fears and reservations. This is also helped by the fact that directly after the bariatric curriculum there is the opportunity to ask personal questions and receive the appropriate answers.
This is especially important for patients who are undergoing surgery for the first time or who have already had less positive experiences in other operations. Knowing everything that is coming is an essential part of obesity surgery, which is a not insignificant intervention in the future shape of one’s life.
This also means that the dietary changes required before and after the operation can be discussed in detail. This way, the patients already know what their special menu will look like in the clinic. Physiotherapeutic counselling and care are also part of the obesity surgery. How do you get up after the procedure? What should be considered in the movement? How is scar protection ensured? These are also questions of general and personal interest that should and must be discussed in the run-up to the operation.
The bariatric curriculum also includes thrombosis prophylaxis, so that our patients know in advance how they can set the points themselves and thus actively participate in the success of their obesity surgery.
The strength of the bariatric curriculum, which we have developed especially for our overweight patients, lies in the totality of counselling, care and support already two to three weeks before the surgical intervention.
We see more information, more security and more self-participation in the process as an important and essential contribution in the interest of our patients, whom we also want to prepare well for the upcoming operation and life afterwards with the Bariatric Curriculum in seminar form and by answering their personal questions.
A threat to humanity
Morbid obesity is increasing rapidly worldwide
Go directly to the self-test: https://ch.run/20sekunden
Life always comes with particular challenges and some of them we like to think of as a threat to our own existence. Epidemics, pandemics, forces of nature, cancer, accidents, other serious illnesses and, last but not least, violence instil a good deal of fear and anxiety in each of us.
Yet there is a modern widespread disease that is much more dangerous and deadly in the long term than anything already listed here. We are talking about morbid overweight, which is also called obesity in different stages in professional circles. Far more people are affected by morbid obesity, including its accompanying symptoms and secondary diseases, than we generally realise. Trend: Rapidly increasing!
Oversupply of food and lack of exercise
Obesity is particularly rampant in the developed industrialised countries, for example in Europe, but also on the American continent. However, more and more regions in Asia are also affected, and obesity does not even stop at the African continent.
An overabundance of constantly available food, wrongly learned eating habits passed on to one’s own children, lack of exercise and a fast food culture that is often far too rich in fat and sugar are certainly partly responsible for obesity.
Know what is happening
But first and foremost, it is the people themselves who fall into the obesity trap due to lack of knowledge, lack of contextual thinking and out of convenience. And they often do so with their eyes open, but without a keen awareness of the consequences of poor nutrition. Liver disease, joint problems, circulatory problems, disorders in fat metabolism, shortness of breath, stroke and psychological impairments due to subsequent stigmatisation are only a sample of a wide range of concomitant and secondary diseases that can ultimately be traced back to morbid obesity. This is accompanied by a significant impairment of the quality of life and sometimes the only way to get a grip on the situation is to have surgery. And even that alone is not the solution to the actual problem, but only a last resort for people who are particularly severely affected by morbid obesity.
Obesity as a widespread disease threatens existence
From the medical view of the overall situation, it can indeed be concluded that in the longer term, humanity’s existence is threatened by the widespread disease of obesity. This may be an unimaginable scenario now, but it gains in threat potential when we consider the development of obesity on a global scale.
It is up to each individual to decide how to influence his or her diet and physical constitution. Provided there is a firm will to do so and the insight that the blessing of always having enough food in the existing abundance may not be a real blessing at all.
Determine your own score
We have presented a quiz at https://ch.run/20sekunden that everyone can use to determine their very own overweight risk score. Valuable conclusions for necessary action can be derived from the results. From the experience of decades of research and practical medical and surgical work with severely overweight people, we know that only timely action can offer a way out of morbid obesity. And often it is the early realisation that a change in lifestyle and eating habits can be the best step towards a healthier and ultimately happier life.
In view of the threat that morbid obesity actually poses, our recommendation is to use the simple quiz to determine one’s personal score with regard to possible medical conditions related to obesity. For many, this can be the first important step towards a more conscious approach to their own lives. And even if life itself always seems to be threatened by serious illnesses, accidents, worldwide pandemics or unavoidable forces of nature, we should never underestimate the dangers to which we voluntarily expose ourselves every day through too much and the wrong diet with a simultaneous lack of exercise.
With our quiz at https://ch.run/20sekunden you can quickly and easily determine your risk score and at the same time receive important information on what you can do now or should do urgently. Because there is nothing more precious than life.
Medical expertise and expert advice on Radio Bern1
People are more interested in their health and use different sources to inform themselves about healthy lifestyles but also about diseases and their symptoms as well as treatment options. Especially widespread diseases such as obesity (morbid overweight) or reflux diseases (for example chronic acid reflux) are moving further into the focus of public interest and thus also opening the doors to media such as radio or television.
Swiss1 Surgery, led by Prof. Jörg Zehetner, has long been committed to professional public relations and welcomes all measures and ways to promote social awareness of such diseases. Jörg Zehetner sees the stigmatisation of affected women and men as a problem that prevents many patients from undergoing appropriate medical examinations. Ultimately, this leads to a vicious circle, which is associated with a long path of suffering and rarely leads to an improvement in the lives of those affected, usually not at all. Old but also new widespread diseases are not only a problem for those affected themselves. The economy and society as a whole are also affected when rising case numbers lead to more incapacity to work, occupational disability, disability to work and, ultimately, rising health insurance costs.
With a lot of commitment, Jörg Zehetner has therefore now spoken out on the radio as part of his efforts to be heard more in public. On 17 August 2020, as part of the podcast series “Medical Knowledge”, the topic of oesophagectomy (resection of the oesophagus) was a focal point on which the specialist physician at the Hirslanden Klinik Beau Site positioned himself. When and why an oesophagectomy may be indicated was explained very clearly by Jörg Zehetner in just two minutes.
The very next day, 18 August 2020, Jörg Zehetner could be heard again on Radio Bern1. This time on the topic of obesity, which is becoming more and more important as a disease in Switzerland and all other highly developed industrialised countries in the world. Here, too, Jörg Zehetner took a clear position on those affected and, with his many years of experience as a visceral surgeon, spoke about the classic methods of treating morbid obesity.
Here too, Jörg Zehetner impresses with his ability to present the essential treatment options in just two minutes.
Listen to the two podcast contributions from Radio Bern1 in full length here:
https://swiftcdn6.global.ssl.fastly.net/projects/5f3e31531d258/index.html?cb=abhioqr529cv93v8xj8x8
It should be noted that these short podcasts cannot replace a comprehensive and thorough diagnosis and counselling. If you think you are confronted with one of these two problems, contact one of the Swiss1Chirurgie clinics. A visit to the website www.swiss1chirurgie.ch can also be helpful. Extensive content on the subject areas is offered here. In addition, all contact details for Prof. Jörg Zehetner and the Swiss1Chirurgie clinics can be found there.
The first Swiss1Chirurgie magazine is here
With its first magazine, Swiss1Chirurgie addresses all patients and those hungry for information who want to learn more about the topics of morbid obesity or about reflux disease.
We work our way forward in interesting articles on these topics and also provide interesting information about our clinics and the Centre for Bariatric Surgery (ZfbC).
You can find out more about the magazine itself and the contents in detail in the detailed article.
You can pick up a printed copy of the magazine in the Swiss1Chirurgie clinics. Those who can no longer get a copy or prefer to read online can obtain the magazine via the following link: https://v.calameo.com/?bkcode=006115199635078f16024&mode=mini&clickto=embed&autoflip=4
We hope you enjoy reading and look forward to your feedback or meeting you in person at one of our locations in Brig, Bern or Solothurn.
Your Swiss1Chirurgie
Dr. Jörg Zehetner
The first edition of the Swiss1Chirurgie magazine is out. The magazine is now available as a printed copy in our clinics in Brig, Bern and Solothurn. For those who prefer to read the first Swiss1Chirurgie magazine online, it is also available for download via the Swiss1Chirurgie app or on the Swiss1Chirurgie website.
To the contents
We are happy to inform you now, more or less in advance, about the thematic focal points of the magazine in the March 2020 edition.
Morbid obesity, a widespread affliction
A major focus is morbid obesity. From stigmatisation to treatment options, you will learn a lot in the magazine that is worth knowing, new, interesting and particularly informative for those affected. In this way, we do not simply want to disseminate scientific findings, but above all to show the individual path to change. In an easily understandable yet correct form.
To this end, we have approached this still very difficult topic in the magazine with various articles, statements, reports and testimonials. We hope that this will pave a new way for overweight people in particular to get informed and ultimately take the right steps to treat their morbid obesity.
At this point, the reports by and about Sina Gossweiler, also known as Sina Lark in the music scene, should be of particular interest. The young woman is not only known from the show “Deutschland sucht den Superstar” (DSDS), but has also been fighting against morbid obesity for a long time. Obviously with success.
Reflux – When acid regurgitation becomes a torment
Another main topic in the first Swiss1Chirurgie magazine is reflux disease. Persistent, chronic acid regurgitation is not only unpleasant and annoying, it can also have real medical significance. Especially when the oesophagus is attacked by the constant confrontation with stomach acid. Consequential symptoms can extend to oesophageal cancer.
Here we also take the opportunity to present different medical and surgical procedures for the treatment of reflux disease in a little more detail.
Portrait of our locations
The first issue of the Swiss1Chirurgie magazine also gives us the opportunity to present our locations in Brig, Solothurn and Berne in more detail. You will not only learn interesting facts about the clinics themselves, but also about the doctors who are there for you every day.
We will also focus on the Centre for Bariatric Surgery Bern (ZfbC) and show you how the scientific work is being further developed there. A number of different specialist papers and support for bariatric surgery worldwide shows the expertise with which this centre is equipped.
New app makes access to specialist medical services more tangible
We would also be pleased to introduce you to the new Swiss1Chirurgie app. Many people already know them and may also use them to read this article. Anyone who is not yet familiar with the new Swiss1Chirurgie app is expressly invited here to download and use it free of charge.
A wealth of information, a direct line to the medical specialist and support before, during and after treatment are just some of the many benefits that you can enjoy with the Swiss1Chirurgie app.
Take advantage of this opportunity and simply pick up your print copy of the Swiss1Chirurgie magazine in the clinic or download the online version to your device.
I hope you enjoy reading
Your Swiss1Chirurgie
Dr. Jörg Zehetner
SINA LARK – Sina Gossweiler on her way to the top
It is a long way
The Centre for Bariatric Surgery (ZfbC) and Swiss1Chirurgie specialise, among other things, in patients who are seeking comprehensive medical help with accompanying care due to a serious and morbid obesity problem. Prof. Dr. Jörg Zehetner, as the leading mind behind the ZfbC and Swiss1Chirurgie, knows that the path from severely overweight patients to a happier and fulfilled life is not an easy one. For decades, he has treated and cared for patients who nevertheless take this long journey. Clear progress can be seen just as much as an occasional relapse into old habits and the difficult fight against obesity and the prejudices associated with it.
Sina Gossweiler has embarked on a long journey
Dr Jörg Zehetner has also been able to count Sina Gossweiler among his patients for several years. Many people know the young woman from the show “Deutschland sucht den Superstar” (DSDS), where the Wattenwil native was able to convince with a magnificent voice, and also got into the recall, but not further. The young singer is also known for her fight against obesity, which she finally took up with the professional help of the ZfbC after some back and forth and repeated self-diets.
A gastric bypass operation was finally the right and appropriate way for her to move into a weight-wise and also psychologically lighter future. It was clear from the beginning that this journey does not end with the surgical intervention, but in fact requires follow-up care in a professional environment throughout life. Sina has fought this battle successfully so far and now feels visibly more comfortable in her own skin. In addition to learning healthy eating habits, as well as exercise and sport, she has now reached a healthy weight.
When Sina Lark was also successful in the music business
And in terms of music, too, the signs are pointing to success. Even though the DSDS recall almost exactly a year ago didn’t lead any further, the likeable musician is now standing there with her head held high. With their first single “Everything I Want To Be” they got off to a great start in the charts. As Sina Lark, the self-confident young woman makes her commercial debut in the music business and can already enjoy a great deal of attention.
Not only did her new song run for the first time as Song of the Day on SRF 3 at the beginning of February 2020, but a live performance on 14.02.2020, between 19:00 and 20:00 on the station will also show how consistently and with what passion Sina is looking for the way to the top and has now perhaps even already found it. Then she will present two songs live on the SRF 3 programme “Punkt CH”. Her new single will also be presented as “Hit of the Day” on 14.02.2020.
A long road brings many challenges
If you take both the gastric bypass operation and the musical path together, it becomes clear that Sina Gossweiler has already taken the long road very successfully as Sina Lark. This gives the soon to be 21-year-old woman from the canton of Bern even more strength to continue on her path now more than ever. On the one hand, this path leads downwards when it comes to weight. On the other hand, it is also the ascent into a new life that Sina has paved for herself with her musical talent. The fact that both directions always involve a lot of effort, challenges, stamina and also the odd setback is impressively demonstrated by Sina Gossweiler’s still young story.
In the end, it is up to each individual to decide how to deal with his or her own problems. Getting the best help at the right time also proved to be a real stroke of luck in this particular case.
With Swiss1Chirurgie and the ZfbC to the Grand Prix in Bern
The GP Bern has been one of the world’s best-known popular races with international appeal since 1982. The Old Town Run and the Grand Prix Bern are among the ten most beautiful courses in the world and are also visited time and again by international running celebrities.
We want to take part in the run together with employees and patients of the ZfbC and Swiss1Chirurgie as a team on 09 May 2020. The registration period is running. You can find out more about the Grand Prix Bern with Swiss1Chirurgie and ZfbC as well as the possibilities for team participation in the detailed article (LINK).
We look forward to your registration and to a wonderful day in May!
Your
Jörg Zehetner
With Swiss1Chirurgie and the ZfbC to the Grand Prix in Bern
The Grand Prix Bern has been an integral part of Switzerland’s running calendar since 1982. International runners have also long since discovered the challenging 10-mile race for themselves and names such as three-time Olympic champion Kenenisa Bekele from Ethiopia, world champion Martina Strähl from Switzerland or Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) grace the start lists of the Bern Grand Prix alongside national and international athletics celebrities.
The Grand Prix Bern is not only a gathering of the world’s best runners, but also a meeting place for ambitious amateur athletes from all walks of life. Whoever tackles the easy to challenging run on the road between 4.8 and 16.01 kilometres knows they are in the company of the great athletes of our time. More important than that, however, is the certainty that taking part in the Old Town Run (4.8 kilometres) or the Grand Prix (16.01 kilometres) is a challenge for body and psyche and always a good contribution to maintaining and improving health and fitness.
Swiss1Chirurgie and ZfbC invite you to the run
In 2019, Swiss1Chirurgie and the Centre for Bariatric Surgery (ZfbC) have again participated as a team in the GP Bern. And that should be the case again in 2020. Both employees of Swiss1Chirurgie and the ZfbC as well as patients with the appropriate will and physical conditions can participate as team players in the Old Town Run or the Grand Prix.
The doctors and therapists from Swiss1Chirurgie and ZfbC are particularly committed to the patients in advance. Thus, former and current patients can get individual advice from the specialists and also receive sport and health advice in preparation for the GP Bern. After all, the point of participation is not to achieve best values, but to aim for very personal goals, taking into account individual conditions. Ultimately, participation in the Old Town Run or the Grand Prix should be a contribution to the health and fitness of the participants. This is the deeper meaning of such a popular race, as Prof. Dr. Jörg Zehetner also knows from his own experience of participating in many long-distance races.
Application deadline runs
As “Team swiss1chirurgie &zfbc” we want to compete together with staff and patients in the Old Town Run and Grand Prix in Bern on 09 May 2020. Staff and patients can now sign up to participate in the registration list. The deadline for registration is 29 March 2020. The lists of participants are available in our clinics. Participants can also register online via the Swiss1Chirurgie app.
Participation is free of charge for the first 20 registered participants. All registered participants will receive a team shirt for the run on 09 May 2020 in Bern. We are already looking forward to a lively interest. Because last but not least, taking part in the Altstadtlauf or the Grand Prix Bern is a good contribution to keeping healthy and is even more fun as a team.
Even more information about the GP Bern and participation is available at www.gpbern.ch and of course on the Swiss1ChirurgieVictoryAPP (LINK).
Current: Focus on bariatrics
The success of obesity treatment is decided after the operation
Severe obesity with all the possible secondary diseases such as type 2 diabetes is one of the widespread diseases in the developed industrialised countries and the number of cases is increasing. Not only in the USA, but also in Europe, morbid overweight (obesity) is rampant. Both in Germany and Switzerland, more and more clinics are specialising in the medical and, above all, surgical treatment of heavyweight contemporaries. Accordingly, surgical procedures are performed more frequently in obesity surgery than they were a few decades ago. Stomach reduction, tube stomach or gastric bypass are the keywords for operations related to obesity. While in Germany, according to current surveys, there is an almost complete lack of professional aftercare, in Switzerland, for example, the Centre for Bariatric Surgery (ZfbC) also sets a good example in the aftercare of patients.
Without lifelong follow-up, the success of bariatric surgery is at risk
A stomach reduction, in whatever form, is the only way out of the vicious circle of obesity, secondary diseases, lack of exercise and even more obesity for many obese patients. In Germany, but also in Switzerland, clinics have specialised in surgical interventions for obesity and provide patients with at least short-term hope for change. However, in Germany in particular, this hope remains a mere expectation. Because even more important than the success of the actual surgical intervention is the subsequent aftercare. And in most cases, this will be necessary for a lifetime. Postoperative care for obese patients is by no means limited to the control of small scars or wound healing in the gastrointestinal tract. More importantly, after such an operation, patients have to change their whole life decisively. This starts with a new form of nutrition, continues with controlled nutritional supplementation, for example with vitamins, trace elements and protein, and ends with a new way of learning sensible exercise. Only a corresponding change in lifestyle habits can ensure the success of bariatric surgery in the long term and thus make the lives of overweight patients better.
All experienced medical specialists, nutritionists, physiotherapists and psychotherapists agree on this. However, there is a lack of concrete implementation of such follow-up treatment and further care in Germany. As the Norddeutscher Rundfunk NDR recently revealed in a contribution to the health magazine “Visite”, the concept of follow-up treatment is poorly neglected in Germany and virtually not established at all. One of the reasons for this is that the health insurance companies neither include such a lengthy to lifelong care for patients in their cost catalogue, nor do they seem to be interested in it. Anyone who has managed to get an overweight operation financed by German health insurance funds at all is often left alone and downright to fend for themselves afterwards.
Accordingly, few patients then find their way to nutrition counselling and further care. Until the body again sounds the alarm and all short-term successes of bariatric surgery are acutely endangered. Those who are financially well off will treat themselves to the necessary aftercare if they have sufficient insight and self-discipline. Those who are less well-off or do not even know how important further care is, do not act at all at this point due to ignorance or lack of financial mass and thus endanger not only the success of the overweight operation, but their health in general.
The German health system clearly has a duty here and must find ways to ensure that bariatric surgery does not turn into an odyssey through the clinical pictures of accompanying secondary diseases.
Switzerland sets a good example
It’s different in Switzerland. Here too, medical centres such as Swiss1Chirurgie, together with the Centre for Bariatric Surgery in Bern, have dedicated themselves to surgical interventions for morbid obesity. Unlike its German neighbours, however, the focus here is on the protracted nature of such interventions from the outset. Only patients who are willing to receive lifelong counselling and support are even considered for bariatric surgery. This is already addressed in the initial talks and is also consistently enforced after the interventions. Of course, always with the cooperation of the patients and all the professionals needed for this.
This methodology is also supported in principle by the Swiss health care system. Here it is clear that anyone who has to undergo bariatric surgery will need the support of the relevant specialists such as internists, nutritionists, physiotherapists and psychotherapists for a long time afterwards, if not permanently. This is the only way to ensure the long-term success of obesity surgery, which ultimately not only benefits the health of the patients, but also significantly minimises the follow-up costs due to a lack of follow-up care.such as internists, nutritionists, physiotherapists and psychotherapists.
It remains questionable whether this insight will be reached in Germany in the near future. While the health care system there mainly works on apparent undesirable developments and deficiencies, most obesity patients remain on their own, with or without bariatric surgery.
We have provided more information on the “Visite” report by NDR here http://bit.ly/ndrnachversorgung.
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| Dr. med. Michèle Gasser Dr. med. Claudia Meier Dr. med. Yvette Ottiger Dr. med. Stefan Schäfer Dr. med. Rudolf Steffen Dr. med. Jörg Zehetner Seilerstrasse 8 | Dr. med. Jörg Zehetner Professor (USC) MMM, FACS, FEBS (hon.) PD Dr. med. Rudolf Steffen Dr. med. Alejandro Metzger Schänzlihalde 1 |