
The new Metamor institute at the LSU Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge which seeks to treat obesity and diabetes is now open. Director of Metamor Dr. Philip Schauer said the institute provides counseling, surgery, and medication.
“The goal of our center is to provide a state-of-the-art multi-disciplinary approach to treating perhaps our nation’s biggest health problem, and that is obesity,” Schauer said.
The institute will also conduct studies and research on the Pennington campus to further the understanding of obesity and provide better treatments. 9% of the United States population are considered severely obese and Schauer says that if this were to go untreated it would result in further medical complications.
“Severely limiting the quality of life and longevity, obesity that leads to other comorbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, elevated cholesterol, sleep apnea, heart disease, and even cancer,” Schauer said.
While patients usually get into the center through referrals from physicians they can also get there directly. Schauer says one of the major challenges is insurance coverage.
“And not all insurance covers all the treatment that we offer and this is one of the biggest challenges that we face in Louisiana and across the country, the lack of adequate insurance coverage for effective obesity treatment,” Schauer said.
More information about the types and services can be found at metamorinstitute.org
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