Can Surgery Methods Overcome Obesity?

As the prevalence of obesity among adults and children has increased, obesity has become a global problem in both developed and developing countries. Although bariatric surgery is the most current and popular method of overcoming obesity for most individuals today, it also has several hazards for patients. The surgery entails applying a gastric band to lower the stomach’s size, resulting in weight loss. Its adverse effects far outweigh the procedure’s favorable outcomes. According to research, patients who have had bariatric surgery report significant weight loss and lower cardiovascular risk factors in the long term, but they also report difficulties afterward. After bariatric surgery, some people have even recovered from diabetes. The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate how bariatric surgery might harm a patient’s health.

Obese people have discovered a sure-fire way to lose weight. However, it is based on a misunderstanding that surgery is the safest approach to overcoming obesity, as it also has a negative side. In obese adults, bariatric surgery has the most severe side effects, including a high risk of complications, compared to any other obesity treatment. Patients who undergo bariatric surgery are more likely to consume less calcium, leading to metabolic bone illnesses manifesting as secondary hyperparathyroidism. Bariatric surgery uses a duodenal bypass procedure (Kang et al., 2017); because the bypass treatment stops consumed food from getting through, calcium levels in the blood drop dramatically.

There are hazards associated with bariatric surgery, such as developing fractures and rapid or significant weight reduction raises the risk in the body due to the rapid weight loss following surgery. Although bariatric surgery has major favorable effects on patients, it also has significant drawbacks that surgeons must carefully handle, such as dumping syndrome, a disorder in which the stomach discharges contents into the big intestine without being properly digested. Obese persons are more likely than others to experience substantial problems after bariatric surgery (Ogle et al., 2020). Experts say highly educated surgeons should only perform the surgery with extreme caution and sensitivity to minimize risks.

In actuality, the root of the problem is the way parents raise their children. They are the ones who educate their children on appropriate food and exercise habits, but if they do not follow the proper guidelines, there could be severe health effects. Making parents aware of the detrimental consequences of their children’s obesity is essential for minimizing child obesity.  Some of these effects include parents instilling in their children terrible dietary habits that are difficult to break and relearn because surgery is harmful to children’s health (Perez et al., 2019). Teaching their obese children how to develop healthy eating habits, such as consuming various meals and avoiding junk food, could be one strategy to combat juvenile obesity. Although the parents must “watch their child’s daily nutritional value and food intake,” many parents select the less expensive and unhealthy option, which can lead to overweight children.

To summarize, bariatric surgery is not a suitable approach to lose weight because the treatment can put the patient’s fractures and body tissues in danger. The most excellent strategy to avoid obesity is to develop good eating habits from a young age to maintain healthy body weight. The way of managing obesity is by educating people about the diversity of foods they should consume.

References

Kang, S. H., Lee, Y., Park, Y. S., Ahn, S., Park, D. J., & Kim, H. (2017). Solo single-incision Laparoscopic Resectional Roux-en-Y gastric bypass for morbid obesity with metabolic syndrome. Obesity Surgery, 27(12), 3314-3319. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-017-2934-9

Ogle, S. B., Inge, T. H., & Campbell, E. G. (2020). Comment on: Beyond insurance: race-based disparities in the use of metabolic and bariatric surgery to manage severe pediatric obesity. Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases, 16(3), 419-421. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soard.2020.01.001

Perez, N., Westfal, M., Chang, D., Griggs, C., Pratt, J., & Gee, D. (2019). A204 pediatric metabolic and bariatric surgery – Impact of adult surgeon volume on postoperative outcomes. Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases, 15(10), S68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soard.2019.08.149

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