Patients looking for medical help losing weight often want to know what their options are. This includes information on if they qualify for surgery, risks, timelines, and insurance requirements. “They generally ask personal questions about themselves, and then of course what does the journey look like,” said Dr. Anirban Gupta, the medical director of bariatric surgery at Providence Swedish. The team at Swedish Weight Loss Services works with patients to determine ideal health and weight loss outcomes. The multi-disciplinary team includes doctors who specialize in obesity medicine, nutritionists, behavioral health specialists, RNs, Patient Navigators and surgeons. “We all come together, and we work together to figure out what’s the best therapy for our patients and then move them in that direction with their choices and preferences in mind,” Dr. Gupta said. Surgical options include the laparoscopic vertical sleeve gastrectomy, which helps patients lose weight by restricting the amount of food they can eat by reducing the size of the stomach. Another option is Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery, which restricts food intake by creating a small pouch at the top of the stomach. Both surgeries often lead to significant weight loss results and a high likelihood of resolution of type 2 diabetes. “Metabolic and bariatric surgery is the most durable, safe and effective therapy for weight loss, for diabetes remission, cancer prevention, improvement of quality of life, and so on,” Dr. Gupta said. Swedish also offers non-surgical weight loss options for those who do not qualify for surgery or would rather go a non-surgical route. The Medical Weight Loss Program provides nutrition education, lab work, fitness education and ongoing support to promote significant weight loss. “It comes down to education, informing and empowering our patients, and that’s what we’re all about,” Dr. Gupta said. A visit with your primary care physician is a good place to start the conversation, but Swedish Weight Loss Services does accept self-referrals. Learn more about surgery and non-surgical weight loss at Swedish Weight Loss Services at the Providence Swedish Issaquah Highlands or Seattle First Hill Campus on the Swedish website. Sponsored by Providence Swedish. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KING 5's New Day Northwest is Western Washington's only local daytime talk show. Watch it weekdays at 11 AM PST on KING 5 TV and streaming live on http://www.king5.com. #newdaynw 🢒 Follow New Day Northwest! 🢐 FACEBOOK 🢒 https://www.facebook.com/newdaynw TWITTER 🢒 https://twitter.com/newdaynw INSTAGRAM 🢒 https://www.instagram.com/newdaynw