Autism and Antibiotics; Joint-replacement Surgery and Obesity

The Denver Post—April 28, 2015

In a Q&A published in The Denver Post, a reader submits his concerns about his brother who is overweight and in need of knee replacement surgery. Dr. Michael Roizen, Chief Wellness Officer at the Cleveland Clinic, and Dr. Mehmet Oz, host of The Dr. Oz Show, respond that it is true that overweight patients typically have complications that may reduce their chances for a good post-op recovery.

They reference a recent study from Hospital for Special Surgery that found that getting bariatric surgery prior to joint replacement is "a cost-effective option from a public payer standpoint in order to improve outcomes in obese patients who are candidates for joint replacement." While losing weight through diet and exercise may be preferable, bariatric weight-loss surgery might be the only way to shed the correct amount of weight and keep it off for the surgery.

Read the full Q&A at www.denverpost.com.