The Promise of Bariatric Surgery

Ssuccessful studies  will further fuel the already rapid rise in bariatric, surgery. The number of cases performed yearly has increased 10-fold over the last decade, to a projected 140,000 this year!

Supporters are quick to defend the procedure, "The data are incredibly clear that on average surgery is effective," says Lee Kaplan, director of the MGH Weight Center at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical Center. The risk of death is below 1%, while about 10% of patients experience complications, Kaplan says, and that's in the expected range for any gastrointestinal surgery.

But there are also fears that these glowing reports do not clearly describe the real situation of bariatric surgery in America.

The recent data published in JAMA make obesity surgery sound like a cure-all remedy for related diseases. But the study' didn't include the rate of surgery complications, such as malnourishment, infections, and death. More and more surgeons and hospitals are simply calling themselves bariatric hospitals and surgeons. "There are a lot of economic incentives built in," says Paul Ernsberger, associate professor of nutrition at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland.

"A lot of hospitals would probably be out of business, if not for bariatric surgery."

The bottom line: It may seem like a Holy Grail of sorts for people who must lose weight to improve their health and well-being, but the procedure comes with risks and benefits that are still being explored. The use of bariatric surgery is likely to keep growing as America wages a war against obesity, but buyers beware.

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Warning: Gastric Bypass Surgery is a MAJOR surgical procedure. It can be associated with significant risks and complications, up to and including death. Weight loss surgery is a rapidly developing area of medicine. Bariatric surgery is filled with controversy. It is very important to take a careful and deliberate approach to considering surgery for the treatment of obesity.  

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