Morbid Obesity.

The Problem of Morbid Obesity.

Morbid obesity means being overweight to the point where you are prone to disease.
You are considered morbidly obese if you are more than double your ideal body weight or more than 100 pounds overweight.

Another definition of morbid obesity is the BMI or Body Mass Index. This is a calculated number (kilograms divided by the height in meters squared). A BMI of 40 justifies the performance of morbid obesity without any co-morbidities, and a BMI of 35 to 40 justifies the surgery with the presence of serious co-morbidities such as diabetes or high blood pressure. A BMI of 25 is normal.

If you are morbidly obese, you are susceptible to a wide range of serious disorders, including diabetes, high blood pressure, and degenerative arthritis. Worse still, morbid obesity greatly increases your chances of dying from cardiovascular disease. (The death rate for morbidly obese men 23-34 years old is 12 times that of men in the general population.)

The consequences are not only medical. Excess body fat can also thwart your social and personal relationships, thus causing emotional stress. You may also face difficulty in finding employment, and must bear the trouble and expense of obtaining special clothing. In all these ways and more, morbid obesity makes it difficult for you to have the kind of life you want.

Dieting, in general, does not work. Even with intense effort only a very small percentage of obese people are successful in taking off and keeping off excess weight. Lack of success at dieting only adds to the feeling of inadequacy and failure.

Drugs will only help with weight loss as long as they are taken, and therefore for permanent weight loss would need to be taken indefinitely. All the drugs have some side effects and the weight loss will return when the drugs are stopped. In any event, none of these drugs have in the past, nor are likely to be in the foreseeable future, effective for the large amounts of weight loss necessary for the morbidly obese.

Obesity Surgery

Surgeons who specialize in the performance of obesity surgery are, in the United States, usually members of the American Society for Bariatric Surgery. In other countries there may or may not be a professional society devoted to obesity surgery. Established societies are in turn usually members of the International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity. Obesity surgery is now a well recognized specialty and the operation should only be performed by surgeons trained and experienced in this type of operation. In addition, a multi-disciplinary approach is recommended with a psychologist, a dietician, and other medical and ancillary personnel closely involved.

With all the above, any risks are greatly reduced and successful and permanent weight loss following the surgery is very likely.