Surgery for weight reduction

Obesity is a serious problem of the most people nowadays. Beside the obvious problem obesity brings to one's good looks, it has a much more serious note, which can often lead to drastic health problems. Medical conditions such as hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, gall bladder problems and various heart problems are just on top of the long list. With increase of awareness of risks that come with obesity, many overweight people are seeking for the best method which will help them to get rid of excess fat. There are various methods, common or uncommon, radical or traditional. One of the most radical methods would be weight loss surgery. But are there risks and is it for everyone?

Short history of weight loss surgery

Weight loss surgery has been around since the middle of 20th century. There are several accepted procedures, but they all come to either reduction of stomach volume or some sort of bypass of intestine. Point of this is to either decrease the amount of food a person can eat, or to decrease the amount of food that can be processed and assimilated, thus reducing amount of available surplus energy-bearing nutrients that can be converted into fat.

Gastric banding

Newly developed surgical procedure aimed at weight loss includes insertion of a band into the stomach through as small incision as possible. The band limits food consumption and can be adjusted, so amount of the consumed food can be increased or decreased according to current needs and desires (in example, if you are gone down with flu or have caught a cold, it would be wise to ease off with the diet, as you need some extra energy to fight the disease). Good sides of this procedure are that it is minimally invasive and that many people who underwent the surgery experienced significant weight loss. Still, some people are known to have suffered from one or more undesirable side effects, such as abdominal pain, heartburn and vomiting, or band slippage.

Pros and cons

Those who support weight loss surgery claim that it both solves obesity problems and increases life expectancy by solving health problems associated with obesity which can often have fatal consequences, or may drastically reduce the quality of life. On the other hand, there are no definite studies which would support these claims, and weight loss surgery is complicated, potentially life-threatening, and several surgeries are frequently needed. Therefore, such surgery is recommended only to people whose health is severely endangered.