10 Years After Gastric Bypass Surgery: Pat's Story

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I have to Thank Dr Abkin as I’ve reached my 10 Year Surgiversary and I am so thankful for all he has done for me. When I think back 10 years ago and how sick I was, it’s all sad thoughts. I was in pain every day and wasn’t able to do my work anymore. Diabetes, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Heart Problems and Fibromyalgia were taking me away from my life! Today I am Free of Diabetes, Sleep Apnea and Heart Problems… My Fibro is under control and I have back my Life! I can’t imagine what life would have been like if I hadn’t had my Gastric Bypass…or if I’d even still be here. But I’m Here… and So Happy with my Life. My Family has grown and I so much enjoy being able to play with my Great Nieces and Nephew. Thank You Dr Abkin for not only being the best at what you do, but for being such a caring person as well.
Read Pat’s Full Story

Dr. Abkin Voted 2014 Top Doctor by New Jersey Monthly Magazine

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Dr. Alexander Abkin was voted NJ TOP DOCS in Bariatric Surgery by New Jersey Monthly Magazine for a 8th Consecutive Year! (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 & 2014)

Dr. Alexander Abkin and his practice are dedicated to minimally invasive weight loss surgery and medical weight loss management. Dr. Abkin’s philosophy is that bariatric surgery is a highly successful way to resolve diabetes and other life-threatening medical problems found in morbidly obese patients. In the past 16 years he has performed more than 7000 bariatric procedures.

Through regional affiliations, Dr. Abkin provides exceptional care throughout New Jersey by offering a full spectrum of options, including gastric bypass, adjustable gastric band and sleeve gastrectomy. Using the laparoscopic approach, he helps patients return to a better quality of life quickly and with less discomfort. The first surgeon in the Northeast to implement the Realize® Band procedure in 2007, he was also the first surgeon on the East Coast to offer single-incision gastric bypass in 2009.

Dr. Abkin is a board-certified surgeon and his practice is recognized as a Center of Excellence by the American College of Surgeons and the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. He is also medical director of bariatric care at JFK Medical Center. A fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Dr. Abkin is a member of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons and the American Medical Association. This is his eighth consecutive year as a New Jersey Monthly Top Doctor.

HOSPITAL AFFILIATIONS: Florham Park Surgery Center; JFK Medical Center, Edison; Morristown Medical Center. MEDICAL TRAINING: First Leningrad University, Russia (MD).

The Link Between Obesity and Cancer

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In 2003, the New England Journal of Medicine published the results of a study that included more than 900,000 American adults. Researchers followed the healthy study participants for 16 years, and found the heaviest participants were more likely to develop and die from cancer than participants who were at a healthy weight.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/01/health/obesity-cancer-asco/index.html

A Call for a Low-Carb Diet That Embraces Fat

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People who avoid carbohydrates and eat more fat, even saturated fat, lose more body fat and have fewer cardiovascular risks than people who follow the low-fat diet that health authorities have favored for decades, a major new study shows.

The findings are unlikely to be the final salvo in what has been a long and often contentious debate about what foods are best to eat for weight loss and overall health. The notion that dietary fat is harmful, particularly saturated fat, arose decades ago from comparisons of disease rates among large national populations.

SOURCE: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/02/health/low-carb-vs-low-fat-diet.html?emc=eta1

JFK Medical Center Earns National Accreditation from the American College of Surgeons

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Facility meets all criteria as a Level 1 Center according to quality standards established by American College of Surgeons Bariatric Surgery Center Network Program

Edison, NJ – April 15, 2014 – The bariatric surgery center at JFK Medical Center has been accredited as a Level 1 facility under the Bariatric Surgery Center Network (BSCN) Accreditation Program of the American College of Surgeons (ACS). The accreditation demonstrates the surgery center’s commitment to delivering the highest quality care for its bariatric surgery patients.

To earn the accreditation, JFK Medical Center met the essential criteria that ensure its ability to support a bariatric surgical care program and the institutional performance requirements outlined by the BSCN Accreditation Standards. Accredited bariatric surgery centers provide both the hospital resources necessary for optimal care of morbidly obese patients and the support and resources necessary to address the entire spectrum of care and needs of bariatric patients, both pre- and postoperatively.

ACS BSCN accreditation is awarded in categories, each with its own criteria that must be met. Facilities undergo a site visit by an experienced bariatric surgeon, who reviews the facilities’ structure, process, and data quality. Because optimal surgical care requires documentation using reliable outcomes measures, accredited bariatric surgery centers are required to report their outcomes data to the MBSAQIP Data Registry Platform.

Alexander Abkin, MD, FACS, FASMBS, Medical Director of Bariatric Surgery at JFK Medical Center, said, “National accreditation by an organization like the American College of Surgeons Bariatric Surgery Center Network helps our patients to understand that JFK’s reputation for excellence in clinical care extends to our bariatric surgery program. We have gone to great lengths to ensure that each patient can be safely cared for, in a system that understands the needs of the obese patient, using the most up-to-date practices in bariatric surgery. The ACS BSCN Level 1 accreditation recognizes this accomplishment in an established bariatric center.”

Dr. Abkin leads a practice dedicated to minimally invasive weight loss surgery and medical weight loss management.

About JFK Medical Center

Founded in 1967, JFK Medical Center is a non-profit 498-bed community hospital, serving residents of Middlesex, Union and Somerset counties in Central New Jersey. With more than 900 affiliated physicians, JFK offers a complete array of advanced services including general and specialized surgery, cardiac care, maternity and pediatric care, and emergency medicine. JFK Medical Center is an affiliate of JFK Health and accredited by the Joint Commission.

New Study Shows Bariatric Surgery Effective for Treating Diabetes

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Major news media including USA Today, Reuters, LA Times and CBS News are today covering a new study from Cleveland Clinic that shows bariatric surgery is a highly effective and durable treatment for type 2 diabetes in patients with moderate and severe obesity, enabling nearly all surgical patients to be free of insulin and many to be free of all diabetic medications three years after surgery.

The Cleveland Clinic physicians started a one-year clinical trial (with a four-year follow-up) to discover the effects on diabetic patients of advanced medical therapy versus medical therapy plus one of two types of bariatric surgery on glycemic control in obese patients with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes.

This is the first randomized controlled clinical trial that compares surgery with intensive medical therapy head-to-head for this patient population.

The study followed 150 patients with diabetes: one-third was treated with medication and lifestyle changes; one-third also had gastric bypass; and the other third had
sleeve gastrectomy.

This is one of the the first times doctors have studied a weight loss surgery for diabetes in patients that aren’t severely obese. (Typically, bariatric surgery is performed on patients with a BMI over 35.)

Ghrelin Normal After Gastric Bypass

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Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery restored normal regulation of the appetite hormone ghrelin, an analysis of the STAMPEDE trial found.

In addition, bypass patients lost more belly fat and had improved insulin secretion compared with patients who had sleeve gastrectomy, even though their total weight loss was the same, according toSangeeta R. Kashyap, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic, and colleagues.

The finding that bypass surgery patients had greater suppression of acylated ghrelin two years after surgery and had better metabolic outcomes, including pancreatic beta-cell function, suggests that ghrelin suppression may play a key role in improved glucose control, they wrote in the International Journal of Obesity, published online Nov. 22.

Read full article: http://www.medpagetoday.com/Endocrinology/Obesity/43097

Primary source: International Journal of Obesity
Source reference: Malin SK, et al “Improved acylated ghrelin suppression at 2 years in obese patients with type 2 diabetes: effects of bariatric surgery versus standard medical therapy”Int J Obes 2013 DOI: 10.1038/ijo.2013.196.

'Healthy' obese people still at increased risk of heart attack, study shows

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Maintaining a healthy body weight is essential for reducing the risk of heart disease, according to a new study from Denmark. This is true even for people who don’t have metabolic syndrome (MetS), a group of risk factors for heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.

Full story: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/11/13/healthy-obese-people-still-at-increased-risk-heart-attack-study-shows/

Dr. Abkin Voted NJ Top Doc For 2013

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Dr Abkin NJDr. Alexander Abkin and his practice are dedicated to minimally invasive weight loss surgery and medical weight loss management.

Dr. Abkin’s philosophy is that bariatric surgery is a highly successful way to resolve diabetes and other life-threatening medical problems found in morbidly obese patients. In the past 15 years he has performed more than 6,500 bariatric procedures.

Through regional affiliations, Dr. Abkin provides exceptional care throughout New Jersey by offering a full spectrum of options, including gastric bypass, adjustable gastric band and sleeve gastrectomy. Using the laparoscopic approach, he helps patients return to a better quality of life quickly and with less discomfort. The first surgeon in the Northeast to implement the Realize® Band procedure in 2007, he was also the first surgeon on the East Coast to offer single-incision gastric bypass in 2009.

Dr. Abkin is a board-certified surgeon and his practice is recognized as a Center of Excellence by the American College of Surgeons and the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. He is also medical director of bariatric care at JFK Medical Center. A fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Dr. Abkin is a member of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons and the American Medical Association. This is his seventh consecutive year as a New Jersey Monthly Top Doctor.

SPECIALTY: Surgery, Bariatric
SUB-SPECIALTIES: Gall bladder surgery; Hernia
LICENSE DATE: 1996
YEARS AS TOP DOCTOR: 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007
HOSPITAL PRIVILEGES: Florham Park Surgery Center; JFK Medical Center; Morristown Medical Center
BOARD CERTIFICATIONS: General Surgery

Gastric Bypass 'Cures' Diabetes in Almost One Third of Patients

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Publication of a new, albeit retrospective, study has shown that almost a third of obese patients with type 2 diabetes undergoing gastric bypass were effectively “cured” of their diabetes, being in complete remission as per the strictest definition possible that was maintained for 6 years after the surgery.

Read the full story here.