Min-Sheng General Hospital’s Bariatric Surgery Center has for a while now attracted patients from abroad for weight loss surgery performed by the most experienced team in Asia, and at competitive prices. Its reputation for excellence also attracts surgeons from across Asia, and even America, who want to gain first hand knowledge and experience of the latest cutting edge techniques used at Min-Sheng.
Dr. Steven Fowler from Aloha Surgeries in Hawaii, USA, is one of the most experienced specialists for gastric banding and gastric bypass in that state; he recently came to Taiwan to observe Professor Lee Wei-Jei perform Roux-en-Y bypasses using the two-entry-ports techniques. Although by-pass surgery using one, two or three entry ports is routinely performed at Min-Sheng General Hospital, doctors in America still mostly use the 5-entry-ports technique. Dr. Fowler is keen to introduce the two-entry-ports technique at his hospital and traveled from Hawaii to gain the necessary experience.
Although the techniques is not applicable to all patients, the reduced number of surgical wounds offers advantages both cosmetic and in pain management.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) is the medical use of oxygen at a level higher than at atmospheric pressure. It was initially developed to treat divers suffering from decompression sickness or gas embolism. Many other applications have since been found for this painless procedure in which a person is exposed to increased pressure, thus allowing greater absorption of oxygen throughout the body tissues. This increased pressure allows more oxygen to reach the cells within the body therefore contributing to many healing and therapeutic benefits. In other words, when utilizing HBOT, oxygen is gently forced into the tissues, organs, brain and fluids throughout the body thanks to the pressurization of the hyperbaric chamber.
This oxygen influx stimulates cell growth and regeneration, displaces toxins and other impurities to assist in the detoxification of the body, and since bacteria and viruses typically cannot tolerate oxygen it also reinforces the immune system. These are some of the properties that explain why Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is currently used to treat a variety of ailments like carbon monoxide poisoning, crush/trauma injuries, diabetic foot ulcers, problem wounds, or severe anemia. In America, physicians refer patients to hospitals with hyperbaric chambers for treatment if they suffer from one, or more, of the thirteen conditions which are approved by the FDA. In Taiwan the use of HBOT for treatment of these conditions is covered by the National Health Insurance. Research suggests that the benefits of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy can also be used in the treatment of many other “off-label” (non-FDA approved) conditions ranging from migraine to multiple sclerosis, and to improve the body’s general well being or speed up its recovery time after exercising.
The HyperbaricOxygenTherapyCenter at Min-ShengGeneralHospital was established eightyearsago by Dr. Chen Shing-Han, and treats several hundred patients every month. In recent years an increasing number of these patients were referred to the center by dental and cosmetic clinics to help alleviate the pain and speed up the recovery associated with some of their procedures. Min-Sheng’s HyperbaricCenter is equipped with two multiplacechambers;the smaller chamber is located in a dedicated spa environment and can be converted into a monoplace chamber for those who wish for the comfort and privacy that such chambers afford. All HBOT sessions are conducted under medical supervision, and patients (referred or not) will see a physician specializing in hyperbaric medicine before starting any treatment. The Center is open from Monday to Friday and is located on the second floor of the hospital.
The Taoyuan Branch of the Department of Health of the ROC has appointed Min-Sheng General Hospital to participate in its cancer prevention campaign. All those, including foreign residents, who are enrolled in the National Health Insurance program and meet the criteria can now receive a free screening for gastrointestinal, oral, breast, or cervical cancer.
Men and women aged 50 to 69 are eligible for a free screening for gastrointestinal cancer once every two years. Those interested will be provided with a special container to collect a stool sample that should be returned to the OPD laboratory on the second floor of Min-Sheng’s Ching- Kuo Campus.
Smokers and people chewing betel nut aged 30 or more can apply for an oral cancer screening at the dental and ENT clinics on the third floor.
Women aged between 45 and 70, and those aged 40 to 45 with a family history of breast cancer, can receive a free breast cancer screening once every two years at the radiography center located in the second basement.
Finally, all women aged 30 or more can receive a free Pap-smear once a year to help detect cervical cancer at the OB and GYN clinics on the second floor.
A special window is open at the Clinics Registration Counter to register and provide information to all those interested in this free service. Present your NHI card and mention the type of screening that you’d like to undergo, and the attendant will provide you with instructions. Oral, gastrointestinal and cervical cancer screenings are available from Monday to Saturday; breast cancer screenings can be done every day.
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