Bariatric Surgery

Upper Chesapeake Health is offering "A Course in Miracles" weekly with Dr. Dahlia Hirsch. Guest lecturer Jim Goldstein will share insights on how to help people improve their situations, at 7 p.m. Thursday at Upper Chesapeake Medical Center. Information: 410-676-9691. `Look Good' slated for cancer patients The American Cancer Society is sponsoring a "Look Good, Feel Better" program for cancer patients at 6 p.m. Nov. 13 at Upper Chesapeake Medical Center. The program provides makeup and hair techniques to combat the effects of treatment.

Upper Chesapeake Health is offering a free class, "Bariatric Surgery: New Course for Life," at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 5 and 13 in the Havre de Grace Room at Harford Memorial Hospital. Participants will learn from the staff of Upper Chesapeake Bariatric Surgery whether the procedure is right for them. A monthly support group for people who have had the surgery will meet at 7 p.m. Nov. 5, after the class. Information: 800-515-0044. Dinner lecture to focus on staph Upper Chesapeake Health will hold a "Dining with Docs" dinner, lecture and discussion at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 7 in Upper Chesapeake Medical Center's Chesapeake Conference Center.

An estimated 66 percent of adults in the United States are overweight or obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although doctors recommend that those who wish to lose weight first try to do so through dieting, exercise, behavior therapy and anti-obesity drugs, an increasing number of people are turning to surgery when these steps fail. In 2006, for example, about 150,000 patients in the United States underwent what is known as bariatric surgery, says Michael Schweitzer, director of minimally invasive bariatric surgery at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center.

Childbirth course lasts six weeks Upper Chesapeake Health will offer a six-week course in prepared childbirth from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays Oct. 1 to Nov. 19 and Thursdays Oct. 25 to Dec. 13 in Chesapeake Conference Center I. Weekend classes will be offered from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Oct. 6-7 and 20-21. The cost is $50 for couples delivering at Upper Chesapeake and $80 for those delivering elsewhere. Registration: 800-515-0044. Information offered on bariatric surgery Upper Chesapeake Health is offering a free informational class, Bariatric Surgery: New Course for Life, at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Havre de Grace Room at Harford Memorial Hospital.

Should I consider bariatric surgery to control Type 2 diabetes? Yes, if you are significantly obese and have tried and failed to lose weight through diet and exercise. Obesity is a major contributor to Type 2 diabetes, in which the hormone insulin becomes less effective at its job, escorting sugar into cells; weight loss is the best way to control diabetes. For people who can't lose enough weight through diet and exercise, bariatric surgery is an increasingly popular option; the number of such surgeries has quadrupled since 2000, reaching 177,600 this year, according to the American Society for Bariatric Surgery.