More than half of Americans make at least one new year’s resolutions on December 31st, and most of them include one of the following:

  • lose weight
  • stop smoking
  • exercise more
  • reduce debt/save more money

Though many people break their resolutions (more than 50% have failed their resolution at the six month mark) research shows that making resolutions is useful. People who explicitly make resolutions are 10 times more likely to attain their goals than people who don’t explicitly make resolutions.

Now Hospital Angeles is announcing programs that will help people meet at least 2 of their resolutions – lose weight & save money: the $7,500 Gastric Plication and $5,000 Gastric Band Surgery all-inclusive medical travel specials good through the holiday season (to qualify, patients must schedule the procedure by January 31st 2011, and have the procedure by March 1, 2011).

With obesity levels skyrocketing around the world, increasingly we are seeing weight loss surgery, particularly noninvasive options such as gastric banding and gastric plication, are steadily becoming more of a frontline option rather than a last resort.

Just last week the FDA acknowledged that a study by Allergan effectively proves that obese patients having a LAP BAND procedure experienced statistically significant weight loss. Further, many obesity experts agree that weight loss surgery has proven to be the only way many obese people can achieve and maintain a significant weight loss, and argue that the proven safety of non-invasive restrictive procedures like LAP-BAND (and, more recently, the Gastric Plication) justifies a change in the safety thresholds set by the National Institutes of Health in 1991.

If the FDA agrees (as requested by Allergan) to lower the obesity requirement required for adjustable gastric banding surgery, millions of Americans will be newly qualified for the non-invasive procedure. Allergan has proposed lowering the BMI requirement to 30, which is the limit currently accepted for the Hospital Angeles LAP-BAND surgery program.

Dr. Lopez Corvala is an Allergan-certified gastroenterologist surgeon, and the President of the Mexican Association of Endoscopic Surgery, as well as an internationally recognized professor of bariatrics and a regular presenter at bariatric conferences, including the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Conference on Extreme Bariatric Surgery held in February 2010. In September 2010 he presented findings from the first 100 plication patients at the 15th Congress of the International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders (IFSO).

Hospital Angeles is a well-regarded leader in obesity surgery, offering such innovative programs as the free About Gastric Plication webinar.

Patients can submit a secure online personal medical profile to assess their candidacy for the gastric plication or LAP-BAND surgery.

Adolescent candidatesare accepted but must meet special requirements including strong parental involvement and commitment.