Stomach Surgery An Option for the Morbidly Obese

Morbid obesity is a chronic health condition that affects millions of people. For a person to be classified as morbidly obese by medical standards, they must exceed ideal body weight by 100 pounds or carry enough excess body weight to cause severe health problems. While there are a wide variety of treatments available for weight loss, often these can be ineffective for patients with such severe weight issues. Of the available treatments, one that has shown promise is stomach surgery, an option for the morbidly obese that can enable substantial weight loss in cases where all other methods have failed.

This difficult health condition has serious affects on the sufferer in a variety of ways. Aside from the physical health problems that morbid obesity causes, there are social and mental health implications as well. Often, people who have morbid obesity try the traditional routes of treatment, such as diet and exercise regimens, with very little success. In fact, for most obese people, diets actually exacerbate the problem and they actually gain weight instead of losing it. If any weight loss is obtained with these methods, success is often fleeting, the extra pounds gained back over time. This cycle of weight gain and loss creates a great deal of frustration and stress, and is quite damaging to the body. Once all of the less invasive weight loss treatments have been exhausted without favorable results, physicians often suggest stomach surgery as an option for the morbidly obese as the best alternative.

While it may seem a drastic measure, surgery as an option for the morbidly obese is often much less of a risk than the serious health issues that can be caused by a severe weight problem. Hypertension, heart disease, and diabetes are very common complications for those who suffer from morbid obesity, as are respiratory problems and osteoarthritis in weight bearing joints. Bariatric surgery, or weight loss surgery, has had great success in the treatment of morbid obesity, giving many patients the means to reduce their risk of these dangerous complications.

While often extremely effective in treating severe weight problems, surgery as an option for the morbidly obese requires careful evaluation according to the circumstances of each particular patient. For this option to be successful, the patient must be willing to make a long-term commitment to better health, adhering to a solid nutrition and exercise program to aid in the process. Bariatric surgery cannot solve the problem of morbid obesity alone, but paired with a healthy lifestyle this treatment can offer promising results.