Severe obesity is one of the most serious stages of obesity. You may often find yourself struggling with your weight and essentially feeling as if you’re trapped in a weight gain cycle. In addition, you most likely have attempted numerous diets – only in the end, to see your weight continue to increase. Exercise and diet alone often fail to effectively treat people with extreme and excessive obesity.
Bariatric surgeries are done when diet and exercise haven’t worked or when you have serious health problems because of your weight. Weight loss is achieved by reducing the size of the stomach with a gastric band or through the removal of a portion of the stomach (sleeve gastrectomy or biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch) or by resecting and re-routing the small intestine to a small stomach pouch (gastric bypass surgery).
Bariatric surgery is designed to alter or interrupt the digestion process so that food is not broken down and absorbed in the usual way. A reduction in the number of nutrients and calories absorbed enables patients to lose weight and decrease their risk for obesity-related health risks or disorders.
Each of these types has its own advantages and disadvantages. Various patient factors affect which procedure is chosen including BMI, eating habits, health problems related to obesity and the number of previous stomach surgeries. The patient and provider should discuss the most suitable option by considering the benefits and risks of each type of surgery.
Apart from long and sustained weight loss, bariatric surgery provides the following benefits:
The benefits of bariatric surgery must be weighed against its potential risks. In addition to the risks of the surgery itself (such as death, bleeding, infection and blood clots), bariatric surgery may cause nutritional deficiencies in protein, vitamins and minerals. Bone mineral density loss may develop from inadequate intestinal calcium absorption. Low blood glucose levels (hypoglycemia) after eating carbohydrates and inadequate vitamin B-12 absorption causing nerve damage to the feet, legs, or hands (peripheral neuropathy), may occur over time.
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Bariatric surgery may be an option for adults who have:
However, consult your doctor who may suggest some extensive screenings to undergo these weight-loss surgeries.
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Disclaimer: The above information has been prepared by a qualified medical professional and may not represent the practices followed universally. The suggestions listed in this article constitute relatively common advice given to patients, and since every patient is different, you are advised to consult your physician, if in doubt, before acting upon this information. Lupin Limited has only facilitated the distribution of this information to you in the interest of patient education and welfare.
Obesity has become a huge cause of concern in India in recent times. Being obese is completely different from being overweight. While there is a lot of awareness and written content of weight management, little is known about obesity and its treatment. The stigma associated with obesity has also shell-cased patients suffering from it from seeking medical help or knowing more about it.
This Anti Obesity Day (26th Nov) we start our fight against obesity with the awareness campaign #Indiafightsobesity. The main focus of this campaign is to make people aware of the health setbacks obesity can lead to and to eradicate the social stigma and taboo related to obesity and its treatment.
According to Dr Mohit Bhandari, Founder Director, Mohak Bariatrics and Robotics, Indore, obesity is a health hazard and requires immediate medical supervision and treatment.
Dr Bhandari is one of the first bariatric surgeons to perform a robot-assisted bariatric surgery and the first and the youngest to have performed a documented obesity surgery in Asia. He also features in the Limca Book of Records in 2015 for performing 25 bariatric procedures in an 11-hour span with the help of a team of 40 doctors.
Candidates for bariatric surgery had to have a BMI greater than 40 kg/m2 or greater than 35 kg/m2 with associated comorbidities such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, arterial hypertension or sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome.
Dr. Ashish Bajaj – M.B.B.S, M.D.
Treating obesity has always been surrounded by taboo and stigma majorly because it is still treated as a cosmetic procedure that is done to look toned and beautiful.
While you would be tempted to link the weight loss procedures with the actual obesity treatment, it is not the same. Although your weight might be due to water retention, muscle mass, bone weight and fat accumulation, obesity is linked only with the amount of fat in your body.
”People are not open to the idea of treatment for obesity because they don’t understand it. Obesity is considered cosmetic”
Some of the most common challenges associated with obesity treatment are as follows-
”In India, we have thousands of morbidly obese patients and we are only able to treat 1% of them”
How Has the Mindset of People Changed about Getting Treated for Obesity?
In the last five years, you can see a lot of change in the attitude of the patients with regards to obesity and its treatment. While our grandparents might have ignored their weight gain as overeating, we are more aware and concerned about our BMIs and are also aware of the various medical options available to treat obesity.
It is interesting to note that obesity might not just be due to an unhealthy lifestyle but can be associated with causes like genetic factors and hormonal imbalances which also need to be considered.
We now know that obesity within the BMI of 32 can be treated with lifestyle alterations and diet management and anything beyond that requires a different approach. Medical management and lifestyle modification cannot do much in the case of morbid obesity where surgery is the only option for sustained results.
Severe heart failure, unstable coronary artery disease, end-stage lung disease, active cancer treatment, and drug/alcohol dependency are some situations when bariatric surgery is not recommended.
Dr. Ashish Bajaj – M.B.B.S, M.D.
Bariatric surgeries are proven to have long-lasting and a significant impact on weight loss and have been practised by surgeons across the globe from around the 1960s. It can be divided into the Malabsorptive procedures (which involve the reduction of nutrient absorption), the Restrictive procedures (which decrease the food intake by adjusting the gastric band) and hybrid procedures which involve a bit of both.
”Surgeries which are done to manage obesity, are not cosmetic surgeries.”
Some of the health issues related to obesity are:
Endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty is a new weight loss procedure. It’s designed to reduce the volume of your stomach. It’s done by endoscope, which means there’s no cutting or scarring. Endoscopy has fewer side effects than surgery.
Dr. M.G. Kartheeka, MBBS, MD
Measuring obesity varies as you age as your ideal weight and your overall body height changes with age. While you can find more bone and muscle mass in young, it is less in adults.
Hence, you should take into account the body composition analysis, basal metabolic rate and bone and muscle mass to determine how obese you are. You must also take into account the obesity-related diseases and health complications you have in order to treat them effectively.
Here are some tips to manage your weight:
This Anti-Obesity Day, take a pledge to have an active lifestyle and manage your weight with the right attitude. While you do have a plethora of treatments available to treat obesity, only the right attitude and behaviour towards it would ensure longevity and a healthy body.
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