You have worked hard to lose a lot of weight. You have exercised regularly, paid closer attention to your eating habits and even consulted with a medical doctor. However, you are still struggling to lose all of that weight. It is likely that excessive weight could be what is preventing you from being able to properly exercise. Additionally, excessive weight can make it dangerous to work out in some regards. It is also possible that you lost some weight, but now you are struggling losing that last bit of pounds. You may be a candidate for bariatric surgery.
Overweight individuals are at a higher risk for many health problems. They have more heart conditions. They may even have more pain that is associated with the excessive weight sitting on bones and other joints, causing too much pressure. Bariatric surgery is a great way and a great option for those facing serious health concerns to quickly reduce the amount of weight that they are carrying around. The weight should first be controlled with traditional measures, exercise and a change in diet, but this can prove to be unsuccessful for many.
In general, gastric bypass surgery and other weight loss surgery could be an option for you if efforts to lose weight with diet and exercise have been unsuccessful. If your body mass index (BMI) is 40 or higher (extreme obesity), if your BMI is 35 to 39.9 (obesity) and if you have a serious weight related health problem like type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure or severe sleep apnea. A Harvard study found that obesity increased the risk of diabetes 20 times and substantially boosted the risk of developing high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and gallstones. Among people who were overweight or obese, there was a direct relationship between BMI and risk, the higher the BMI, the higher the likelihood of disease. Those suffering these types of diseases may have difficulties in exercise, and may be a great candidate for weight loss surgery.
Some candidates may be concerned about the safety of the gastric bypass procedure. However, bariatric surgeons are extremely qualified in this type of surgery. It is often the one type of surgery that they constantly do. According to a study done by the ASMBS Bariatric Centers of Excellence looking at nearly 60,000 bariatric patients, the average mortality rate associated with bariatric surgery was just .13%, or about 1 of every 1,000 patients. This rate is considerably less than other surgeries such as hip replacement or even standard gallbladder surgery. Also, the risks of mortality associated with many of the diseases that are common with extreme obesity are greater, when comparing the two.
Bariatric surgery is an option to those who are struggling with excessive weight that they are unable to lose. Often times, patients who have extreme obesity and are also suffering with medical conditions as a result are unable to exercise enough to effectively lose the weight. A gastric lap band by the way of a bariatric surgery may be an option for these patients. The surgery provides these people with a way to quickly bring their weight to a safer number, to allow them to continue to work on their weight with exercise and diet.