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DDW 2018 review: Obesity treatment integral to gastroenterology care
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WASHINGTON — In this exclusive video perspective from Digestive Disease Week 2018, Sarah Streett, MD, from the Stanford University Medical Center and outgoing chair of the AGA Practice Management and Economics Committee, reviews obesity-focused data presented at the meeting and obesity’s importance in gastroenterology and hepatology.
“We know obesity is integral to the development of so many disorders that we take care of, and yet most of us don’t focus on it as a potentially modifiable risk factor for gastrointestinal diseases,” Streett told Healio Gastroenterology and Liver Disease. “What we saw here is that obesity is now really integrated into GI practice in terms of understanding pathophysiology.”
Streett highlighted several presentations including a pair that focused on the success or failure of obesity programs and how, from an advocacy standpoint, it seems “clear we need to fight to get the treatment of obesity better coverage.”
Additionally, Streett reviewed presentations on endoscopic bariatric surgery for obesity and a common theme at the meeting that involved “layering of different therapies” to treat obesity, such as combining pharmacotherapy or surgery with diet, exercise and education.
Finally, Streett discussed the upcoming James W. Freston Conference, an AGA specialty meeting that will focus on different aspects of obesity, including the microbiome, physiology, genetics and incorporation of programs into gastroenterology centers. The meeting will be held August 18 and 19, in Arlington, Virginia.
Disclosure: Streett reports no relevant financial disclosures.