About the Surgery
Obesity is a chronic medical condition which can have significant medical complications. Bariatric surgeons consider morbid obesity to be a disease. Often surgical treatment is a viable option for many patients who meet the definition for morbid obesity. Generally, the criteria for surgical weight-loss procedures is a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 40 or greater or, BMI of 35 or greater, if there are associated medical conditions that are related to obesity. Your genetics, internal hormonal balance and learned eating habits are just some of the factors that must be considered when making a decision for surgical weight-loss.
Surgical procedures for weight-loss are based on one or both principles for restriction of food intake, and/or malabsorption of food eaten. Restriction controls the amount of calories or food ingested by limiting space. Malabsorption controls or reduces the absorption of food.
Two of the operations recognized by the National Institute of Health for the treatment of clinically severe obesity are the Roux-en-y Gastric Bypass (RNY) and Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding (LAP-BAND). There also are other variations of weight-loss surgery. Surgery to produce weight-loss is a serious endeavor, and each individual should clearly understand what the proposed operation involves before opting to have surgery.
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