Why Choose Bariatric Surgery?

With the passage of time, obesity has turned into a national health issue. The last two decades has witnessed a double rate of overweight people and obesity among children and adults. In the category of preventable causes after tobacco, obesity is the second to cause death among the people of United States. The stats are pretty similar for India as well. Morbid obesity is one of the major issues that has a link with various causes that severely effects the health of any overweight patient, like that of heart attacks, hypertension, high glucose or diabetes.

If Bariatric surgery is converted in an efficient manner, it will assist the obese people to work on their conditions. However, one thing that should always be borne in mind is that a Bariatric surgery is a major surgery. It should be considered to be the last step of treatment for obesity. If all other techniques and measures fail to work on a morbidly obese patient then the last resort should be Bariatric surgery.

The decision for Bariatric surgery should be taken only after consulting health experts and with the recommendations of a bariatric surgeon. It is the duty of a qualified bariatric surgeon to inform the patient about his health condition and all the merits and demerits associated with the surgery. This should include the details of the process, the entire recovery time, the side effects and the follow up checkups that will be essential. In the course of routine evaluation of the patient’s health they might be required to look up to a nutritionist or a dietitian and a therapist or a psychiatrist in order to know the post-surgery complications/ changes in the behavior of the patient during the long term period.

Increased Life Expectancy

Obesity is the second most leading cause for preventable death cases after tobacco. As per a recent study, it has been found that the rate of death for an obese person is almost double than the rate for a non-obese person. Bariatric surgery helps to reduce this risk and increases the life expectancy of a person by improving his lifestyle.

Resolution or Improvement of Obesity-related Health Conditions

It is said that with one operation one can cure 5 problems. None of the other techniques has such capacity to do the same. With bariatric surgery, problems like hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, adult onset diabetes, sleep apnea and gastro esophageal reflux disease have been replenished in a remarkable manner. Apart from the following, according to a study it has been suggested that a morbidly obese patient who undergoes a Bariatric surgery, reduces his chances to be attacked by certain types of cancer.

Comorbidity		% of Patients with Improvement		% of Patients with Condition Resolved
Diabetes		100%		82%
Sleep Apnea		93%		74%
Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease		96%		74%
Hypertension		88%		70%
Hypercholesterolemia		96%		63%

 

In addition, recent research suggests morbidly obese patients who undergo weight-loss surgery greatly reduce their risk of certain types of cancer.

Long-Term Weight Loss

After the successful completion of bariatric surgery, people are seen to enjoy their reincarnation phase as that leads to rise in self-esteem, development of self-image, etc. However, this should never be the driving factor to undergo the surgery. Our basic purpose is to stay healthy and lead a better life.

It should always be kept in mind that any surgery never promises 100% recovery. Unexpected outcomes may come without any notice even with the simplest of the procedures. The underlying factor is that a weight loss surgery can only be successful if the patients undergo a regular routine throughout the life as advised by doctor after the surgery. Change in lifestyle can lead to stress in marital life as well as in the life of other family members. In order to support the patients after surgery with important tips to lead a healthy lifestyle, bariatric surgeons maintain various groups to advice the patients. These groups educate the patients with their valuable suggestions.

However, the end decisions rest on the patient. After a proper evaluation of benefits and side effects, the patients have to decide upon their call. They can measure the parameters and see what overweighs the other. Surgery is just a medium as the final work rest upon the patient himself, as how they adhere to the dietary chart and a proper health regime