Bariatric Surgery Is Simply Weight Loss Surgery By Another
Name
Many of us are familiar with the terms Gastric Bypass
Surgery and Weight Loss Surgery but the term
Bariatric Surgery is one that you may not have come across before.
The term bariatrics comes from the Greek "baro" (weight) and the suffix
"-iatrics" (a branch of medicine - as in geriatrics) and first came into use
just over 40 years ago when it was felt that the treatment of obesity, together
with the study of its causes and prevention, warranted its own branch of
medicine.
Today bariatrics encompasses all aspects of medicine associated with obesity
including what is more properly termed bariatric surgery.
In addition, surgeons performing weight loss operations will often prefer to
use the title of bariatric surgeon and many are members of The American Society
for Bariatric Surgery (ASBS), which was formed some 20 years ago and which
represents the largest group of obesity specialists to be found anywhere in the
world.
Despite its relatively short history, bariatric surgery has become a major
component of the healthcare system due in no small part to the explosion of
obesity across the Western world.
Literally millions of Americans are classed as being clinically obese today
(at last count the figure was put at over 72 million) and a significant
proportion of these people are sufficiently overweight to be categorized as
morbidly obese and candidates for bariatric surgery.
Bariatric surgery is also a quite unique field of surgery in that obesity
brings with it a number of medical conditions including diabetes, hypertension,
sleep apnea, urinary incontinence, liver disease, and arthritis all of which can
potentially be cured through bariatric surgery.
More in its favor however is the fact that, at present, it is the only real
solution to the problem of severe obesity. While most doctors will start
patients on a program of diet and exercise to cure their weight problem this is
being seen by many today as nothing more than the "politically correct" thing to
do and a required step in a process that will ultimately lead to surgery if a
satisfactory solution is to be found.
The traditional route of diet and exercise simply doesn't work in the vast
majority of cases and many specialists in the field are fast coming to the
conclusion that dieting can actually do more harm than good in the long run.
Similarly, drug treatment to assist in weight loss is also proving less than
effective for most patients and, although new drugs are under development and
testing, most doctors again feel that this is not the answer to the problem.
At the end of the day, despite the risks and complications, bariatric surgery
works and, for many patients, this is the route that they want to take.
This said, bariatric surgery is certainly not an easy way out for people
suffering from morbid obesity and the surgery itself is just the start of what
will become a dramatic and permanent change to your lifestyle. In particular, it
will be necessary to adopt an entirely new eating regime following surgery and
patients need to follow what is often referred to as a bariatric surgery diet.
This takes some getting used to and, while it is not easy for many people,
bariatric eating is very much the secret to continued weight loss success.
As technology advances, surgical techniques improve and surgeons gain
experience there can be little doubt that bariatric surgery will continue to
grow.
More articles about gastric bypass surgery:
Insurance Cover For Gastric Bypass Surgery - Can you get insurance cover for gastric bypass surgery? This article looks at this important question for anybody contemplating weight loss surgery.
Lap Band Insurance Coverage - Lap band insurance coverage can save you a small fortune if you need weight loss surgery and this article looks the ins and outs of health insurance for lap band surgery.
The Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Band Is An Increasingly Popular Choice - For many of the 27% of all Americans whose New Year's resolution is to lose weight the laparoscopic adjustable gastric band procedure will prove an attractive option.
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28 Jul 2010 at 2:07am
TopNews United Kingdom (blog)
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