We need a forum on this board for posting lap-band medical studies, and for discussion of these studies.

On this board we have wonderful forums for General Lap-Band Discussion, for Complications, for Support, etc. As a newbie I've learned a great deal from these, particularly about "soft" subjects like "How do you know when you are restricted?", "What is the first week after banding like?", and "Is my doctor acting appropriately?".

However, for other lap-band issues we can only look for answers in the medical studies - "What is the mortality rate of lap-band vs gastric bypass?", "What is the incidence of erosion with lap-band?", "How do outcomes improve as the surgeon gains experience?", "Are outcomes better or worse with the swedish band?", "What is the mean weight loss after 1 years, 2, 3?", etc.

I am aware of dozens of studies that deal with questions like these, and new studies are appearing all the time. I propose that on this board we need a central repository for these studies and for member discussion of them. We need a forum dedicated to medical studies on lap-band and other weight loss surgeries.

Your thoughts?

Scott F-

I agree, how could it be set up? Just links to other sites or posting everything available here?

If there were enough support for a Medical Studies Forum, as evidenced by replies to this thread, then I'm sure the operators of LapBankTalk.com would setup this forum.

So, alongside the forums for General Lap-Band Discussion, Lap-Band Support, Insurance, etc. would sit the Medical Studies Forum.

My thought is that whenever someone runs across a new medical study it is posted to this forum as a new thread, preferably with the summary of the study pasted into the initial message. Then discussion about this study would take the form of replies to this thread.

There are, at a minimum, dozens of interesting medical studies on lap-banding and other WLS that would be readily available to users of LapBandTalk.com.

Wouldn't this be suitable for the reference section?

I think collating this data is an excellent idea.

Yes, we could use the References forum for posting medical studies. It doesn't get much use otherwise.

I think that is an excellent idea. There are several new articles out on the band long term. I have access to medscape, etc. Let me know if I can help.

A sticky thread in the References section is a perfect idea for this! I'll take care of it.