Taking Control

There are 70 million reasons to PREVAIL™

The battle for meaningful weight loss can affect every part of your life. It is a profoundly personal condition that impacts everyone differently and greatly. No one's suffering is the same, nor is their journey to health. But, there are some facts about obesity that everyone should be aware of. After all, before we can change the game, we have to know the playing field.

• Complex and far-reaching, obesity has damaging medical, physical, psychological, social, and economic side effects for those suffering from the condition.ⁱ
• Obesity and diabetes-related health problems are expected to account for the largest proportion of treatment expenditure in the US by 2015.ⁱⁱ
• There are over 500 million people worldwide who are obese and over 70 million people who are considered morbidly obese and are candidates for weight loss surgery.ⁱⁱⁱ

• Morbidly obese patients who lose even moderate amounts of weight are likely to improve their overall health status by reducing the severity of associated health conditions and improving perceived quality of life.^iv,v
• Because obesity is a chronic condition, most doctors agree it's a life-long journey to health that includes changing your diet and lifestyle. But, for many diet and exercise alone are not effective.
• Surgery (combined with diet and lifestyle changes) is currently accepted as the treatment approach producing the greatest and longest-lasting success in achieving weight loss for the morbidly obese.^vi

ⁱ O'Brien PE, Dixon JB. The extent of the problem of obesity. Am J Surg 2002; 184: 4S-8S.
ⁱⁱ Price Waterhouse 2011 Estimate, Datamonitor, Thomas Reuters, and Center for Disease Control.
ⁱⁱⁱ World Health Organization, Fact Sheet No 311. Available at: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/print.html. Accessed August 4, 2010.
^iv Melissas J, Christodoulakis M, Spyridakis M, Schoretsanitis G, Michaloudis D, Papvasiliou E, Tsiftsis D. Disorders associated with clinically severe obesity: Significant improvement after surgical weight reduction. South Med J 1998; 91(12):1143-8.
^v Rubenstien R. Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding at a US center with up to 3-year follow-up. Obes Surg 2002; 12(3):380-4.
^vi National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. The Practical Guide: Identification, Evaluation, and Treament of Overweight and Obesity in Adults. NIH Publication No. 00-4084. October 2000.
* Body mass index (BMI) calculator and information courtesy of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). www.nhlbi.nih.gov.