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porcelain26 -> RE: what's up with gastric bypass surguries, can't people just control eating an exorcise? (7/30/2008 9:43:30 PM)
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First off, people who are 30lbs over weight aren't the ones getting bariatric procedures done. People who have these procedures are clinically 'severely obese', meaning they have a BMI (body mass index) of 35 or greater. Most surgeons won't preform procedures on anyone with a BMI less than 40 (which makes them clinically 'morbidly obese') unless they have 2 or more comorbidities (serious health complications directly related to being obese).
Secondly, Gastric Bypass works 3 ways:
1. It restricts the size of the stomach, thus limiting the amount of food that can be eaten during a single setting
2. Because the intestines are cut and redirected during the procedure, it also works by malabsorption; your body is simply no longer able to absorb nutrients or calories as it did before
3. The size of the pouch, for reasons science doesn't yet understand, causes the "OH MY GOD I'M HUNGRY" signal to the brain to be shut off (this is provided of course, your surgeon makes
the pouch small enough)
Third, Gastric Bypass is only one of a dozen different kinds of bariatric procedures that can be performed. Each procedure carries it's own risks and benefits, but the most important thing to remember is that each procedure's success is 100% dependent upon the patient. Everyone who has a baritric procedure done will initially loose weight, but they MUST reprogram their eating habits, exercise habits, and way of thinking about food in order to be successful. As slaveboy pointed out (regardless of the acidity of his comments), for many of these patients, eating is quite literally an addiction; bariatric surgery is simply a tool to assist in recovery.
It's not a matter of "eat right and exercise"; what works for someone who is 10lbs overweight and someone who has fought a life long battle with obesity are, simply put, not the same thing. While how much someone eats and how much they exercise has a great deal to do with the problem, there are other issues like genetics (clinical research does indeed show that obesity is genetic), rate of metabolism (which is different for everyone), and different health issues such as hypothyrodism for example, all play a factor in not only how a person stores fat and but also how their body uses it. Another issue is the fact that probably 90% of all these patients have indeed lost weight using other methods, beit pills, diet and exercise, starvation, hypnosis (the list goes on and on), but none of those have proven to be effective for that person over a long time period. People who want to have bariatric surgery must prove they've made efforts in the past to loose weight which have failed (these efforts must have been followed by a doctor and must be proven with medical records).
While it would be great if there were a simple answer to obesity, there just isn't. Eating right and exercising are essential to a healthy lifestyle, there is no doubt about that whatsoever, but that isn't always the answer for everyone who needs to GET to the 'healthy' part. And just so we're clear...I didn't copy and paste all of this from some website, I'm an RN and the hospital I work at is a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence. We do hundreds of bariatric procedures every year and the surgeons who perform them are adament that we are educated on obesity.
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