late after noon of the living dead » Surgery

When should you consider gastric surgery?

admin — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 11:07:52 +0000

It’s not so hard to admit the risks associated with your high body weight. Wherever you look, the medical evidence of a link between excessive weight and high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease is obvious. Unlike climate change where there are doubts about the science, you put your health at risk if you allow those additional pounds to stay on your body. Except what is easy to say is difficult to act in in the cold, hard light of day. Let’s face it, if losing weight was easy, most people would do it. The fact that the majority put a brave face on things and continue life as best they can is an indication of just how difficult it is to diet.

Why is eating less so difficult? It all comes from childhood. From the beginning, we see adults packing away large quantities of food. The portions put in front of us are big, so we adjust to eating more. By the time we grow into adults, we are conditioned to eat more and habits are hard to break. That’s what may make gastric surgery look an attractive option. You go into hospital. A band or staples are inserted to physically limit the amount you can pack into your stomach. No matter what your eyes may tell you, you will be full after just a few regular mouthfuls. Nature then takes over and your body will now burn the stored fat as energy. After six months, you can be back to a thin body shape. But life is not easy. While you are adjusting to eating less food, you will feel some discomfort.

It is not hunger as such because your stomach will tell your brain it is full. Your body will nevertheless register the weight loss. This tricks some people into forcing more food into their stomachs. They feel they should eat more even though the messages from the stomach deny it. Because of these psychological risks, surgeons prefer only to operate on people who already have symptoms of disease arising from their high BMI. They must have made real attempts to lose weight the conventional way and convince the surgeons they are motivated to eat responsibly after surgery. If the operation is approved, it costs about $17,000 for keyhole surgery and $26,000 for the full operation. Given the savings on the treatment of the obesity-related diseases, you will recover these costs in between two and four years. Many health insurance companies will pay for these operations.

Surgery is always risky and many prefer to avoid it if possible. This leaves dieting, an exercise program and meridia as the only choice. Eating smaller portions of healthy food starts off the process. Exercise burns off more pounds. Meridia keeps your appetite under control and maintains your motivation while the pounds come off. Note the key word, “motivation”. It all comes down to you to keep to the healthy path. If your will is not strong enough, you will lapse into the old habit pattern of eating too much of all the wrong foods. If that happens to you, it may suggest surgery is not for you. Overeating with a stapled stomach damages your body.

Is surgery really the answer?

admin — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 11:24:32 +0000

It never hurts to start off with a few simple truths. If it was easy to lose weight by eating less, there would be no obesity. If exercise burns off unwanted pounds, everyone would get off their couches and lose those potatoes. But life is never straightforward when it comes to losing weight and, more importantly, preventing the pounds from sneaking back when we are not looking. So what’s the problem? The Jesuits have a saying, “Give me the boy until the age of seven, and I will give you the man.” Put another way, as we grow up, we are surrounded by role models and authority figures who show us and instruct us on how to fit in and live our lives successfully. This so-called socialization process is largely complete by the age of seven. We have absorbed all the social rules for fitting into our culture and it takes a major effort to unlearn all these habits later in life.

So what’s the problem? Well, here comes another simple truth. The portion sizes sold as suitable for children in the US are the same as the adult portions in Europe. The portion given to adults in the US would feed an entire family in many other parts of the world. But, by the time we are seven, our expectations have been set. The eyes see the amount everyone eats as normal. The stomach is trained to accept this quantity – anything less and hunger pangs make life uncomfortable. So, if as an adult, someone tells you to eat less, you are being advised to act in a way that strikes you as fundamentally abnormal. You will suddenly stand out in social activities as the person who asks for less food when visiting friends for a meal or when ordering food in a fast food outlet. Even if you accept the label of eccentric, then comes the hunger pangs and your morale crumbles. Your mind may be strong, but your body betrays you.

Weight loss surgery is increasingly seen as an option by health insurance companies. They recover the cost in between two and four years through avoiding the need to pay for the treatment of high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and so on. The procedures physically limit the amount of food your stomach can hold. No matter what your expectations, you physically cannot eat the same amount of food. The average cost of full surgery is $26,000. Keyhole surgery costs about $17,000. But this is not cosmetic surgery. It is a drastic measure and most doctors refuse it unless you are genuinely overweight and have consistently failed to lose weight any other way. That means you should diet, exercise and use acomplia. In clinical trials, the participants lost an average 10% of their body weight over a 12 month period. This represents a significant reduction but it may still not bring you down to a low BMI. More importantly, maintaining the weight loss is a real challenge. So, if your medical insurance will cover the cost and your doctor agrees, you should consider surgery if your BMI is above 30. Otherwise, buy acomplia and use it as part of a consistent low-calorie diet. Either way, your weight will fall.