Bariatric Surgery is a surgical solution to a weighty problem. Obesity is the one of the leading causes of preventable lifestyle related deaths in the world. Healthy lifestyle, balanced diet and exercise is the key to prevent Obesity and Let’s fight it together.
Obesity is the one of the leading causes of preventable lifestyle related deaths in the world and dedicated effort is required to fight this modern devil. It is notable that Obesity & its metabolic complications like diabetes, hypertension, fatty liver, etc. have reached endemic proportion. It is only the tip of the iceberg that we are witnessing and public awareness is necessary to tackle this growing burden.
India is also considered the diabetic capital of world. 90 % of the type 2 diabetes patients are obese or overweight. Thus obesity and diabetes are closely related. ‘Diabesity’ is the term scientist describe for these metabolic disorders associated with obesity. Today, 25% of the industrialized world is affected by this modern epidemic. This is not only preventable but the metabolic syndrome and side effects associated with it can be reversed if right measures are taken.
Hazards of obesity
1. Obesity in simple words means excessive accumulation of fat in the body and they can be harbourers of many diseases like high Cholesterol (dyslipidemia), type 2 Diabetes, High blood pressure, Heart disease with risks of Stroke and Cancer.
2. Breathing disorders, including sleep apnea, a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts is also more common in Obese population.
3. Gallbladder disease, fatty liver disease, Gynecological problem such as infertility and irregular periods, Erectile dysfunction and other sexual health issues also affects the quality of life.
4, Osteo arthritis is also common and it may affect the knees and one can be really troubled doing basic chores.
Fight Against Obesity
Healthy lifestyle, balanced diet and exercise is the key. Timely action with lifestyle modification early on the course of obesity will require no medication. In other words, it is the best time for lifestyle changes and exercise when we are just getting overweight because it possible at this stage to reverse the ill effects of obesity without any supervised medical care.
However, once our BMI crosses 30Kg/m2, Obesity sets in and medical help will be required for optimal results. Still, with supervised care at this stage also we can reverse it and spring back to normalcy. But if severe and morbid obesity sets in; like BMI more than 40 kg/m2, there is high chance of failure of medical and other conventional therapy and then Bariatric Surgery becomes inevitable and becomes the most suitable option for health benefits.
So, in one word, Prevention is better than cure.
What is Bariatric Surgery?
Bariatric surgery means procedures that cause weight loss by restricting the amount of food the stomach can hold, causing malabsorption of nutrients, or by a combination of both gastric restriction and malabsorption. Bariatric procedures also cause desirable hormonal changes for effective health benefits.
Most weight loss surgeries today are performed using minimally invasive techniques (laparoscopic surgery) and patient can walk soon after surgery. The hospital stay is usually 2-3 days. Commonly performed procedures popular today are Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy and Gastric Bypass Surgery and they can be performed with minimal invasive key hole surgery.
Current recommendations for Bariatric Surgery
Indian guidelines
- BMI ≥ 37.5
- BMI ≥ 32.5 and at least one or more obesity related co-morbidities such as type II diabetes(T2DM), hypertension, sleep apnea and other respiratory disorders, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, osteoarthritis, lipid abnormalities, gastrointestinal disorders, or heart disease.
- Inability to achieve a healthy weight loss for sustained period of time with prior weight loss efforts
Benefits of Bariatric Surgery
Bariatric surgery produces measurable weight loss to the tune 40 kg or even more and not mere 10-15kg.Also, the weight loss is sustained over long period of times over years to come. The best part is that the diseases associated with Obesity like Diabetes, hypertension, osteoarthritis, etc. can also be resolved by the surgery hence it is also called Metabolic surgery. Thus, not only the quality of life is improved but also years of life are added to aid longevity to these otherwise high-risk obese group of patients.
Furthermore, there is also resolution of depression, anxiety, lack of self-esteem and reduction of single hood which is very common in these severely obese patients.
Dr. Vinay Shaw
Head & Senior Consultant
Dept of GI, MAS & Bariatric Surgery,
Medeor Hospital – Delhi.
