I am doing a project on Mitiku Belachew, the inventor of the band. i just need to know how or why he was inspired to make the band. does anyone out there have a site that could help me?

I have no idea, but if you are able to find that information, I'd love for you to post it so we could read it too!

History of the LAP-BAND

In the 1980s, Dr. Lubomyr Kuzmak invented the first gastric band with an adjustable balloon along the inner circumference. The Bioenterics Company improved upon this original design and Dr. Mitiku Belachew (Belgium) placed the first LAP-BAND in 1993. The Inamed Company purchased Bioenterics and continued to perfect and refine the design. Surgeons have performed more than 120,000 LAP-BAND procedures, making it the number one bariatric surgical procedure worldwide.

The gastric bypass is still the most common bariatric procedure done in the U.S., but the FDA approved the LAP-BAND for use in the U.S. in 2001 and the number of patients having LAP-BAND surgery has increased rapidly as more patients learn about the procedure and health insurance coverage for it improves.

In the early 1980s Lubomyr Kuzmak was driven by a sense of purpose and passion to develop a better and safer gastric restriction procedure for the surgical treatment of severe obesity. He became a visionary pioneer who applied his inventive talent to design and patent an adjustable gastric band and a method to place the band by laparoscopic technique. He did initial investigational studies of his device and method. While the food and Drug Administration demanded expanded studies in the U.S., Dr. Kuzmak taught bariatric surgeons at International Workshops at the University of Padua, under the sponsorship of Professor Mario Lise, Franco Favretti, Gianni Segato, and later Guy-Bernard Cadiere, and at the University of Liege, under the sponsorship of Mitiku Belachew and Claude DeSaive, soon advanced the implantation of the adjustable silicone gastric band by minimally invasive techniques. Professor Paul O’Brien of Monash University was an early participant in these workshops. He became a leader in the laparoscopic placement and teaching of this procedure in Australia

thank you all so much, i gave the speech yesterday, and it went over well. i added my story to it as well. the following is the typed up version of the speech... minus the powerpoint... and without the add ins etc

Mitiku Belachew

Her name was Christina Corrigan. She was 13 years old when she died; she weighed 680lbs. A few weeks ago in the news, there was a three year old girl who topped 200lbs. A few months ago, I met a 16 year old who had a BMI of 80. (normal weight is around 24 and you are considered morbidly obese at 40) In today’s society, this type of story is becoming all too familiar. Some stories even sound made up. When the obesity epidemic was just beginning to crown, and these types of stories began, Doctor Mitiku Belachew heard them, and set to work on something that would eventually change the world. It’s hard to imagine such a little object made primarily of silicone and tubing could ever have such a large impact on the population. This invention is called the Lap Band System. The systems aimed to help those who are obese lose weight and become healthy.

Doctor Belachew’s system was introduced in 1991 and involved an outpatient surgery where this band is placed around the patient’s stomach so to limit their intake and not have it as invasive as gastric bypass. When he was making this invention he had no idea of the effect it would have on the world in a few short years. This invention is helping people all around the world, not just the United States. All of these people have begun a new life because of Doctor Belachew. Every one of them is healthier than before, they have a longer life expectancy and some even have had life threatening illnesses, such as diabetes, cured they became healthier and the fat melted away.

Even I have been affected and inspired by Doctor Belachew’s invention. I received my band on August 8, 2007 at the University of Illinois at Chicago Hospital. My life has changed since then in ways that I could never put into words. Doctor Belachew also inspires me to help curb the obesity epidemic that is now plaguing the world. Now, I have become a type of poster child for Doctor Belachew’s lap band system. Pictures from my surgery are shown to new candidates for the band, and I have people emailing me everyday. I tell each person I talk to that Mitiku Belachew is changing the world one person at a time, and as I “pay it forward” I help change the world by helping end the obesity epidemic as well.

References

Allergan Company. (2007). History of the LAP-BAND System. Retrieved February 13, 2008 from LAP-BAND® - ALB History

Allergan Company. (2007). The LAP-BAND System Overview. Retrieved February 13, 2008 from LAP-BAND® - ALB Overview

Monash University. (2003). Lapband. Retrieved February 13, 2008 from Lapband®

Ortiz, Ariel. (2007). Chapter 2: Development of the LAP-BAND! Retrieved February 13, 2008 from Lap-Band For Life - The Official Guide To Lap-Band Surgery

Ortiz, Ariel. (2007). Chapter 13: LAP-BAND for Adolescents. Retrieved February 13, 2008 from Lap-Band For Life - The Official Guide To Lap-Band Surgery

Ortiz, Ariel. (2007). Chapter 16: Frequently Asked Questions about the Band. Retrieved February 13, 2008 from Lap-Band For Life - The Official Guide To Lap-Band Surgery

Ortiz, Ariel. (2007). Chapter 17: Their Stories! Retrieved February 13, 2008 from Lap-Band For Life - The Official Guide To Lap-Band Surgery