Dr. Feiz received his Medical Degree from New York Medical College, with Honors. He completed his internship and residency in Surgery at the world famous Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center. He continued subspecialty Fellowship training at Cedars Sinai Medical Center where he received specialized training in Bariatric and Minimally Invasive Surgery.
Here at Dr. Feiz and Associates, we truly believe that a strong support structure is the key to success following any of the types of weight loss surgery. A patient who undergoes bariatric surgery with Dr. Feiz will have a dedicated team of professionals ready and willing to help them when they need it most. Whether it's a dietary concern, a question about a particular aspect of a surgery, or simply a doubt creeping into their minds, Dr. Feiz always provides a kind and knowledgeable ear that get his patients back on track, feeling informed and great about themselves.
Many of the patients who come to Dr. Feiz for a sleeve gastrectomy or a lap band in Los Angeles will also join an online community dedicated to bariatric patients, either on their own or by using a page recommended by the doctor himself. Here, people can speak openly and connect on a deeply personal level, helping to eliminate the common feelings of isolation that can often spring from being obese in our culture.
It's simply amazing how helpful and caring the weight loss surgery community is. Sharing recipes on Pinterest, blogging about your highs and lows, and giving each other words of encouragement on online forums are all incredible ways to pay it forward, helping to guarantee the success of another person's sleeve gastrectomy, lap band, or other type of bariatric surgery. Dr. Feiz and his associates thank these people for their excellent work!
It's hard to believe, but there are still people around who are convinced the obesity is simply a matter of a lack of will power and flat-out laziness. Of course, you don't have to be an expert in human metabolism or a bariatric surgeon to know that's hogwash -- all you have to do is be, or just speak to, someone who is suffering from this problem.
You'll know it's a very complicated and difficult blend of issues; what might appear on its surface to simply be poor health habits might often by driven by signals from the body that just about anyone would find extremely difficult to resist. Let's face it, no matter what else is true, weight loss in Los Angeles or anywhere else is never remotely easy.
An interview by Good Morning America's Liz Neporent appearing on the ABC News web site this week featured the thoughts of Nikhik Dhurandhar of the Obesity Society. He likens obesity to cancer in the sense that he believes it's not just one disease, but a complex of various conditions that vary greatly between individuals. In other words, while two obese people may look as if they're dealing with essentially the same problem, the root causes may be completely different.
Dhurandhar himself was involved with 1980s study that found an obesity causing virus in chickens, which he later found in people. While virus-caused obesity in humans is likely very rare, the fact that it's even possible, Dhurandhar notes, shows that it's much more complicated to deal with than most people think -- at least most thin people. A more complex and comprehensive understanding of the root causes of obesity can only help us to combat this very serious health problem. The article doesn't mention the hunger-causing hormone ghrelin, but that could prove to be an enormous part of the isseue.
Fortunately, such procedures as a gastric sleeve can reduce ghrelin and permanently reduce excessive food cravings and other procedures are often extremely effective as well. If you're considering a weight loss surgery, please call
Dr. Feiz & Associates at 800-868-5946 or contact us online.
If you're old enough to remember the mid-1970s, then you might remember a now obscure comic 1976 hit, "Junk Food Junkie." The song got a lot of comedy mileage out of the then-novel idea that overeating unhealthy food could be compared to an addiction to drugs or alcohol.
Today, however, that idea has become pretty commonplace as obesity continues to rise and weight loss surgery remains about the only reliable means of circumventing it. Even so, mentioning obesity as a type of addiction remains somewhat controversial among doctors and scientists, even if many of us really do feel truly compelled to eat a great deal more than we know we should.
An article on the Science page of yesterday's Boston Globe looked at some research that may help indicate why so many of are looking at lap band and gastric sleeve surgery for relief from our struggles with obesity. A Yale team of researchers looking at the brain chemistry of mice consuming high fat foods found that the reward circuitry in the brain appears to be interrupted by fatty foods. Here's the gist of the point from one of the head researchers quote in the Globe:
“The idea is that if the brain adapts to a drug or calories in such a
way that your reward response is deficient, then these individuals would
need to consume more of the same...When the reward system is weak, you do more to obtain the same reward.”
The study took things a step further by providing the newly minted junk food junkie mice with a substance called oleoylethanolamine. This appeared to restore normal levels of the pleasure-oriented neurotransmitter dopamine. The result was that the mice then seemed to be satisfied with an ordinary, less fatty meal than beforehand.
We sort of doubt that there will be a fix this simple to cure humans of the eating habits that lead to obesity. However, as with the research on ghrelin, the "hunger hormone" impacted by gastric sleeve procedures, it's a fascinating area that could make all types of weight loss surgery even more effective in the future
If you are interested in how bariatric surgery can help you solve what
sure feels like your addiction to food, please contact Dr. Feiz &
Associates today at 800-868-5946 or via our website.
For weight loss in Los Angeles, a growing number of people are coming to trust Dr. Feiz and Associates. Led by Michael Feiz, M.D., F.A.C.S., our facility offers weight loss surgery options that have improved the health, lifespand and overall quality of life for many patients from a variety of backgrounds.
Of course, as pioneers in the field gastric sleeve and related surgeries, our staff is always eager to learn about advances and new research into bariatric procedures. This often leads us to some fascinating stories, and this week was no exception. In an article in U.S. News and World Reports, a recent study reports that obese white Americans are twice as likely as obese blacks to have weight-loss surgery, despite the fact that a greater percentage of black adults qualify for the procedure.
Their research, taken from 1999 to 2010, found that 22% of black women and 11% of black men met medical eligibility guidelines for the procedure. This is in comparison to 12% of white women and 8% of white men.
This startling data has led many to question what the cause of the discrepancy may be, with insurance coverage appearing to play a significant role in the discrepancy. Yet no matter what the cause, the result is unfortunate for many black Americans who would stand to benefit a great deal from the incredible results of bariatric surgery. As our many patients are well aware, our work has been shown to alleviate the effects of diabetes and hypertension among other health issues.
No matter what your ethnic or cultural background, or your economic status, at Dr. Feiz and Associates, we are committed to positively affecting your life in any way possible. Contact us today for a free consultation with one of our specialists!
