We All Must Confront Obesity, Raise Awareness and Treat Obesity Seriously

A Message from Dr. John M. Morton

John M. Morton, MD, MPH, FACS, FASMBS, Clinical Editor, Bariatric Times; Chief of the Section of Bariatric and Minimally Invasive Surgery, Stanford University, Stanford, California, and Past President, American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.

Dear Bariatric Times Reader,

I want to thank Bariatric Times and my predecessor Dr. Raul Rosenthal for the opportunity to be the new Bariatric Times Clinical Editor. Bariatric Times, with over 11,000 readers, has proven itself to be the leader in all bariatric news, keeping us all up to date on what matters when it comes to obesity and its prevention and treatment.

As the new editor, I will be very reliant on the excellent Bariatric Times staff and you as the reader for suggestions and comments. We want to lead discussion and understanding around our leading public health concern—obesity. Obesity has the pernicious effect of decreasing the effectiveness and increasing the complications of our medical interventions from cancer chemotherapy to orthopedic joint replacement. Obesity can and will affect the entire House of Medicine. This recalls a poem by John Donne titled “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” To paraphrase, no man is an island by themselves, we are all part of the main, and you do not ask for whom the bell tolls as it tolls for all of us. We all must confront obesity, raise awareness and treat obesity seriously.

To that end, I will make it imperative that we work with all specialties to bring awareness around obesity treatment. We must move beyond an echo chamber where we all agree as a specialty that obesity needs to be treated with a new paradigm that incorporates all of medicine working together. I hope to highlight opportunities and examples of specialties working together so we can see our ultimate goal realized—all affected patients getting the care they need and deserve. We hope to highlight specific obesity-related diseases through coverage of specialty society meetings and interviews with thought leaders who want to treat obesity in new clinical settings.

In addition, I hope to highlight advances in innovation, particularly in clinical best practices. We are all collectively guiding care for hundreds of thousands of patients annually, and we can learn from these encounters so all of us can improve. Finally, advocacy will be highlighted, as modern medicine requires active participation in the political process to attain needed recognition and resources for the health and welfare of our patients.

In addition, I hope to get Bariatric Times content even more visibility through Twitter and podcasts. Feel free to contact me at any time; I am here to serve you.

Twitter: @jmortonmd
E-mail: [email protected]

Sincerely,

John Magaña Morton, MD, MPH, FACS, FASMBS

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Category: Editorial Message, Past Articles