(AP)
Updated: 2007-08-23 11:10

Herb Olitsky, a 53-year-old business owner from New York City, credits his improved lifestyle to gastric bypass.

A diabetic, Olitsky was given months to live after developing a life-threatening bacterial infection near his heart muscles.

Olitsky, who stands 5 feet 8 inches, underwent stomach-stapling surgery in 1999 and went from 520 pounds to his current weight of 160. He no longer struggles to walk a quarter block and has managed to control his blood pressure and heart rate.

"I knew I had to get it and that's what's kept me alive," Olitsky said. "I'm healthier now than I've ever been."

More than 400 million people worldwide are obese and surgery is the only proven method to shed significant pounds in a short time. In the United States, it costs $17,000 to $35,000 and insurance coverage varies.

Weight-loss surgery is considered relatively safe with the risk of death from the surgery at less than 1 percent. Common complications include nutritional deficiency, gallstones and hernia.

US guidelines recommend that surgery be considered only after traditional ways to slim down have failed. Candidates must be at least 100 pounds overweight and have a BMI over 40, or a BMI over 35 plus an obesity-related medical condition such as diabetes or high blood pressure.

This fall, a panel of experts from the National Institutes of Health will revisit the obesity surgery guidelines. It's not yet known whether a BMI change would be considered, said spokeswoman Susan Dambrauskas.

Susan Pisano, a spokeswoman for America's Health Insurance Plans, which represents 1,300 insurers, said the group will rely on any new recommendations from the federal government.

The Sweden study was paid for by the government-funded Swedish Medical Research Council, drug makers Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. and AstraZeneca PLC and Cederroth, which makes health care products. The US study was supported by an NIH branch; one of the researchers has received a lecture fee from a company that makes equipment for obesity surgery.

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