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Lap Banding, Bariatric Surgery |
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Cheltenham |
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Huddersfield |
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Leeds |
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Taunton |
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| Obesity Surgery |
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WHAT IS SEVERE OBESITY?
Severe
or clinically significant obesity is the medical
term for unhealthy excess weight. Clinically
significant means that you are at risk of
developing other diseases or conditions that could
be life-threatening, such as type 2 diabetes, high
blood pressure, heart disease, arthritis and
cancer.
In the developed world we now have
an epidemic of obesity. It is more common in the
UK than in any other country in Europe. About 2%
of the UK population have a BMI >35 plus
obesity-related disease or BMI >40 without.
Severe obesity reduces life expectancy by an
average 9 years and patients have only a 1 in 7
chance of a normal life span.
World-wide a
large number of patients have had successful
weight reduction surgery and there are numerous
publications in the medical literature on the
benefits. Many patients find that they no longer
need treatment for obesity-related diseases and
their quality of life improves dramatically.
Your body mass index determines whether
you are obese.
To work out your body mass
index divide your weight (kg) by height2 (m)
Normal 18 to 25
Overweight 25 to
30
Obese more than 30
Severe obesity more
than 35
Superobesity more than
50
THE OPERATIONS
Briefly, there are two main forms of
operation:
Restrictive operations cause weight
loss by reducing the amount of food that can go
into the stomach. This makes a patient feel full
very quickly, removes hunger and reduces the need
to eat.
Operations that cause
malabsorption reduce the amount of food that can
be digested by the intestine and the operation is
combined with restriction of the stomach. Some of
the operations can be performed by the keyhole
(laparoscopic) method. The advantages of keyhole
surgery are reduced operative risk and quicker
recovery.
Patients suitable for referral
include:
Within age range 18 to 60 years
BMI > 40, or > 35 with co-morbidity
Motivated to lose weight
Prior meaningful
attempts at weight reduction
Low operative
risk
Accepts the risk of surgery
Understand the role of surgery
Understand
the need for follow
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