Robert O. Powell, MD / Gastric Band Specialists

Special Advertorial Feature

In 2003, Dr. Powell converted his cardiovascular surgical practice to address the medical problems associated with obesity. Diabetes is now his primary target. Dr. Powell is the most experienced LAP-BAND® surgeon in the Coachella Valley.

Gastric Band Specialists, located on Highway 111 in Rancho Mirage and directed by Dr. Robert O. Powell, are dedicated to fighting the obesity epidemic with the safest weight-loss procedure available: laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding.

For many, good health has been diminished by diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, sleep apnea, and degenerative joint disease, just to name a few conditions. Being seriously overweight increases an individual’s risk of serious health problems by a factor of 10! The good news is that with successful and sustained weight loss, many of these serious conditions improve or resolve completely.

Common in the news today is the link between obesity and diabetes Type II. Obesity crosses all social, economic, ethnic, and gender boundaries, and now so does diabetes. Many patients lose their diabetes when they lose excess weight. With an initial weight-loss of 40-50 pounds, many patients no longer need medications to control their blood sugar, hypertension, or cholesterol.

Multiple clinical studies have confirmed what 95 percent of obese patients have learned the hard way: diets, exercise, and medically supervised weight-loss programs fail to get the weight off and keep it off. That is why Dr. Robert Powell, a graduate of Harvard Medical School and an experienced cardiovascular surgeon, transformed his practice to the surgical care of the bariatric patient.

“For more than 25 years as a cardiac surgeon, I saw the destructive force of obesity from the inside. Many patients present for heart surgery after damage has already occurred. I am now able to treat a major cause of many illnesses, not just the side effects, and before damage is permanent. In short, I’m getting to the root of the problem, no longer just trimming the branches.”

The band is inserted laparoscopically, through very small incisions, and placed around the top of the stomach, creating a small pouch. The band limits what patients eat at any one time. When the pouch is full, patients feel full because nerves located at the top of the stomach signal the brain, “no more thanks, I’ve had enough.” The concept is simple and direct. Results are effective. Restricting food volume limits caloric intake, and patients lose weight while retaining the body’s ability to absorb nutrients naturally because no vital organs are cut, rerouted, or removed.

Other weight-loss procedures such as gastric bypass (Roux-e n-Y) produce weight loss, but are linked to much higher complication rates. Even in the hands of competent surgeons, bypass procedures may remove the body’s ability to absorb nutrients. Higher surgical complication rates and frequently related nutritional deficiencies convinced Dr. Powell to focus his efforts on a less invasive, safer procedure. After weight loss, the band can be removed and the patient has not been permanently altered or left with the consequences of a gastric bypass for the rest of their lives.

Because the LAP-BAND® System is reversible and is done without cutting, stapling, or rerouting of the gastrointestinal tract, Dr. Powell believes it is the only procedure to consider for the alarming numbers of overweight adolescents and younger adults. “In their lifetimes, I believe medical science will discover a better way to control appetite and eating abnormalities.” The band can be removed when a better solution is available, and patients have not been changed internally. “I tell patients the band is ‘temporarily permanent’ or ‘permanently temporary,’ whichever they prefer.”

LAP-BAND® has also proven useful to help patients lose weight before they become morbidly obese. Some family histories can serve as a road map for other relatives. Patients who are as much as 50 pounds overweight can improve their health and future by taking a preventative step.

Dr. Powell is unique among LAP-BAND® surgeons because of his extensive cardiac, thoracic, vascular, and general surgical background. His Harvard Medical School training and subsequent 20-plus years of surgical practice have prepared him for procedures more technically challenging and serious than gastric banding. However, with more than 50 percent of Americans battling their weight, Dr. Powell knows this is the patient population where he can make the greatest contribution. He has performed more than 1,600 LAP-BAND® procedures. Surgery is never Dr. Powell’s first recommendation for weight-loss, but when dieting and exercise programs have failed, then patients should consider surgery.

Many obese patients prefer to keep weight-loss surgery confidential. They appreciate our private offices and a non-hospital, private, state-of-the-art surgery center. Gastric Band Specialists are sensitive to the requirements of each patient’s comfort and privacy.

The 45-minute laparoscopic, outpatient surgery is performed under general anesthesia administered by an M.D. anesthesiologist. Patients are typically at the surgery center for three to four hours and go home to relax in their own surroundings. Most patients are surprised by the relative ease of recovery and are back to normal activity within a week.

While patients understand that obesity threatens their heath and their future, what they really notice most is how much better they look and feel after losing weight. When the emotional and psychological burdens of obesity are lifted, patients can transform themselves in miraculous and wonderful ways. New vitality, renewed mobility, new appearance, new jobs, new relationships … truly new lives become possible.

Robert O. Powell, M.D.
Diplomate, American Board of Surgery
Diplomate, American Board of Thoracic Surgery (1980-2000)

Gastric Band Specialists
71-511 Highway 111, Suite E
Rancho Mirage, CA 92270
(760) 340-3609
www.gastricbandspecialists.com

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