Study suggests that increasing number of urban population falls in the category of obesity. Lack of awareness, sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy food habits and ignorance is gradually contributing to the rise in these numbers. The healthcare fraternity is taking steps towards creating awareness through health camps in housing societies and corporate parks. Obesity can be treated. Depending on the stage, the treatment includes diet control, exercise and sometimes surgery. The unit to identify this is the Body Mass Index (BMI). If the BMI is in the range of 25-29.9, the person is considered to be overweight. But if the BMI crosses 30, the person is Obese. In this case too, if the BMI crosses over 35, the person classifies under Morbid Obesity.
Morbid Obesity
Obesity and Morbid Obesity are a result of accumulative fat deposition in and around the organs. The body stores the unused calories in the form of fat. The human body builds up fat stores if the person consumes more calories than the body can burn for daily activities and exercise.
Morbid obesity leads to various complications in the body functions and has life-threatening consequences. The complications include osteoarthritis, heart disease and blood lipid abnormalities, type-2 diabetes, sleep apnea or even cancer. When diet control, nutrition, exercise, weight-loss drugs etc. are not very successful and if the person already suffers from the ramifications of obesity or those have BMI higher than 40, surgery is recommended to reduce weight and control obesity
Bariatric surgery
This is a clinical treatment option to save a person from obesity. In Bariatric surgery, weight loss is attained either by reducing the size of the stomach with a gastric band or through deduction of a portion of the stomach which is known as sleeve gastrectomy / biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch or by resecting and connecting the small intestine to a reduced stomach bag which is known as gastric bypass surgery.
The Bariatric surgery procedures are classified in 3 types:
Restrictive procedure: Here banding technique is used to reduce the size of stomach to almost one cup. This makes the person feel full quickly and reduces the intake of food.
Malabsorptive procedure: Here the focus is to reduce the calorie absorption in the intestine.
Mixed procedure: Also known as the Gastric bypass surgery, uses both restrictive and malabsorptive technique.
Bariatric surgery is generally performed using the Laparoscopic method and involves inducing general anesthesia.
Results and benefits:
Bariatric surgery has demonstrated positive effects. It is observed that mal-absorptive procedure yields better results than restrictive procedure. Maximum weight loss occurs within 10 months post-surgery. The surgery reduces the consequences of obesity like diabetes, heart disease, kidney malfunction etc. It also, reduces the need for other surgeries like cardiac bypass, knee replacement etc. Post-surgery the patient is put on strict liquid-only diet for a few days.
This type of surgery has become common for treating child obesity. As more and more children are falling prey to the rising disorder of obesity, bariatric surgery is being opted for by the youth.
There are some risks involved with this type of surgery, however, these can be eliminated with appropriate post-surgery care. The success of bariatric surgery largely depends on the specialist. It is recommended that you discuss this with the right doctor and also consult an endocrinologist.
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