Weight-loss surgery is generally recommended for people whose weight is associated with one or more medical complications.
In general, weight-loss surgery is only recommended for people whose weight problem is severe or is associated with one or more medical complications. Current NIH guidelines are that surgery may be appropriate for people with a BMI greater than 40 or for those that have a BMI greater than 35 and serious weight-related conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, severe arthritis, or sleep apnea. Typically, people whose BMI falls within this range are overweight by 100 pounds or more. Given the health benefits of weight-loss surgery, it is not surprising that the number of people undergoing such procedures in the United States has increased from 20,000 in 1995 to more than 40,000 a year today.
Despite its growing prevalence, weight-loss surgery is not without controversy. Many remember the early, unsuccessful attempts at surgical treatment of obesity. The first commonly used procedure, popular during the 1950s and 1960s, was intestinal bypass. This procedure aimed to reduce absorption of calories by rerouting food past most of the small intestine. The operation led to significant weight loss, but it also caused dangerous complications -- for example, severe nutrient deficiencies, kidney stones, and liver failure. When its complications became apparent, the procedure was abandoned.
In the early 1970s, surgeons introduced banded gastroplasty (or "stomach stapling") for weight loss. This procedure reduces the size of the stomach with a combination of sutures (or staples) and a tight band. Gastroplasty works both by restricting the amount of food you can eat at any one time and by enhancing the satiety (fullness) signal produced by eating a small amount of food. This procedure proved to be safer than intestinal bypass and nearly as effective, and it is still in use today. However, it is rapidly being eclipsed by gastric-bypass surgery.
From the Harvard Health Publications Special Health Report, Weigh Less, Live Longer. Copyright 2001 by President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved.
More articles please visit and make donation click for
http://weight-loss-treatments.blogspot.com
http://skin-care-body-treatment.blogspot.com
http://skin-care-and-acne-treatment.blogspot.com
