Obesity Surgery

Obesity is the bane of the modern ‘fast food’ world. Obesity surgery is an answer to all the ‘weighty issues’ faced by an individual. In tune with the times, it is a quick answer, to a problem that otherwise could take years to be solved.

As the name suggests, obesity surgery, is a surgical procedure that enables a person to lose weight. It is specifically for those people, who have just about tried everything, to lose weight or tried hard to maintain their weight loss but failed in all their attempts. Though obesity is relatively harmless, as compared to other medical conditions, it does lead to health problems in the long run and decreases a person’s life expectancy. For these reasons, weight reduction assumes paramount importance.

A person should ideally go for obesity surgery, if he/she suffers from morbid obesity. Morbid obesity is a condition wherein individuals have a body weight that is 50 to 100% above what is measured by the Body Mass Index (BMI). The BMI is calculated taking into consideration a persons weight in relation to his/her height. In medical parlance, a BMI between 30-40 is considered obese and that lying over 40 is considered morbidly obese.

At times obesity manifests itself in cycles. A person can drastically reduce weight and in a little time might just gain weight drastically. This is why new, improved and innovative weight reduction measures are being introduced and among these is, obesity surgery. Obesity surgery is not as drastic a measure as many people believe it to be. An invasive medical procedure has some amount of associated risks, as is the case with obesity surgery. However, there are numerous bariatric surgeons, who are experts in this type of surgery. Coupled with state-of-the-art hospitals and medical clinics, the complications are minimized to a great extent.

Many regard obesity surgery as a quick fix solution, but nothing can be farther from the truth. It is a comprehensive procedure that also includes, among other things, superior support and services of other medical professionals like dieticians and psychologists. The treatment plan is drawn out over a long period of time. Obesity surgical procedure involves the placement of the gastric band in the upper portion of the stomach. This limits an individual’s intake of food. This is accomplished by using what is known as laproscopic surgery also known as keyhole surgery. This gastric band or the lap band is adjustable in nature and if need be, can be removed altogether.

The post-operative care includes an overnight stay in the hospital, following the operation. It also includes regular consultations with health care professionals, who will counsel you regarding the subsequent life style changes that a person needs to adapt to.

About the Author
Donna McClinton is Senior Patient Advisor at Cosmetic Surgery Consultants one of the UK's leading cosmetic surgery groups. For more information on cosmetic and plastic surgery advice visit http://www.cosmeticsurgeryconsultants.co.uk



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Is Gastric Bypass Surgery a Solution to Obesity?

Gastric bypass surgery is quickly becoming an option as a solution to obesity. Obesity is a term that refers to someone who is excessively overweight. Just by looking around when I go out into public, I would have to say that America as a whole has a weight problem. I think back when I went to school, in a class of 30, I can recall 3 class mates that I thought were overweight. I look at my son’s class and would have guess about 30-40 percent of his class mates’ look heavier than they should be.

Obesity is known to cause premature death, especially if you have been obese for more than ten years. With the number of obese adults estimated to be at about 60 million, obesity is quickly becoming the number one cause of preventable death in this country. The number of obese children stands at about 9 million and has tripled in the past 25 years. This problem is fast reaching epidemic proportions. More and more doctors are beginning to recommend gastric bypass as permanent solution to obesity.

Some of the medical conditions commonly associated with obesity are cancer, high blood pressure, stroke, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, arthritis and bladder control problems. There are also psychological conditions related to being overweight, such as; low self-esteem, anxiety and depression. Another thing that comes along with obesity is discrimination.

Gastric bypass surgery is being used more as a solution to these weight related issues. It is common now for insurance companies to pick up the cost and in the past year Medicare has also started paying for gastric bypass surgery. Medicare agreeing to pay will open the door for the gastric bypass surgery to become more common.

This was a good decision. Gastric bypass surgery is major surgery, but in most cases it is going to add years to your life and increase your quality of life. In the long run it will also save on future health care costs.



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How Does Lap Band Surgery Work?

With obesity at epidemic proportions in America today, the medical profession is searching for new solutions to the growing problem. Lap band surgery is quickly becoming an option for dealing with obesity. This type of gastric bypass surgery has been perform in Mexico for many years, but is just beginning to become widely performed in this country.

The purpose of gastric bypass surgery is to reduce the top of the stomach to the size of an egg. As a result, the amount of food a person can consume is limited. Lap band surgery does this by putting a band around the stomach, forming a small pouch at the top that is separate from the rest of the stomach. The actual operation itself usually takes less than hour.

The band is inserted through a very small incision through the abdomen. This band has a balloon that makes it adjustable and can be inflated or deflated at any time after the operation. The band adjustment is performed as a simple outpatient procedure that normally takes about 15 minutes. Saline is inserted through a port under the stomach wall that is connected to the band.

The recovery time for lap band surgery is minimal compared to the other types of gastric bypass surgery. It requires 1-2 day hospital stay and most patients are able to return to work within a week.

Lap band surgery is relatively simple and doctors having great success with it. I think you are going to see a lot more of lap band surgeries performed in the future as this country begins to deal with its weight problem.





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