Weight Loss Surgery Can Prove Fatal

Thursday, January 21, 2010 by: E. Huff, staff writer
Tags: weight loss surgery, fatalities, health news

(NaturalNews) The desire to lose weight has led many overweight people to undergo risky procedures in order to shed pounds quickly. Rather than altering their diets and exercising more, a growing segment of the extremely obese population is choosing weight loss surgery instead, a decision that for some ends up costing them their lives.

Bariatric surgery, a procedure that involves the removal of a portion of the stomach in order to reduce appetite and eliminate weight, is becoming increasingly popular as more and more people become obese. Over the past 20 years, the obesity rate among children and teenagers has tripled. Since 2007, the number of people who opt for bariatric surgery to deal with their obesity has more than doubled.

Dr. Anoop Misra, Director of the Department of Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases at Fortis Hospital in Delhi, India, notes that the risks associated with bariatric surgerycan be reduced if proper guidelines are followed. However doctors are increasingly prescribing the surgery to people who do not meet the criteria, he says, which puts those people in danger.

In India, several people have died in the last few years after receiving bariatric surgery. One girl died of a heart attack just a week after her surgery while several others died a couple months after theirs. Dr. Misra believes that both prospective patients and their doctors are failing to properly ascertain the risks involved with the surgery, leading to needless deaths.

The New York University Medical Center describes bariatric surgery as a last resort option when all other options have been tried. According to experts at the Center, gastric bypass surgery has a one percent mortality rate in those who choose to undergo it. The Center recommends investigating alternative procedures if lifestyle changes do not work, strongly urging those who ultimately decide to go with weight loss surgery to make sure they have considered the high risk nature of the procedure first. In other words, the procedure is extremely risky and patients must choose to receive it at their own risk.

Many of the people who look into getting weight loss surgery are merely looking for an easier way to lose weight. While some people have achieved such behemoth proportions that surgery may be their only route, many moderately obese people see surgery as a quick shortcut to shrinking their waistlines. For most people, changing their dietary habits and exercising regularly is still the best way to lose weight and maintain vibrant health.

Sources for this story include: http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_weight-... http://www.weightlosssurgerychannel.com/brea... http://thinforlife.med.nyu.edu/obesitysurger...