Unshelved by Bill Barnes and Gene Ambaum
comic strip overdue media

Monday, July 24, 2006

Okay, they don't include data from the newer laparoscopic surgeries but

40% of weight-loss surgeries develop complications. The article doesn't mention if the study dealt with death rates at all, which last I saw ran between 1 and 2% (doesn't sound bad, but that's 1 in 100 to 1 in 200, and that's pretty high in my book). The number of surgeries are rising, just as the number of obese people are rising, and women are much more likely to seek the procedure than men. This article didn't include a quote that the New York Times (free with registration) did about how 'The number of people receiving the operation “may be less than 1 percent of those who need it"'...there aren't a lot of standards yet, but one I've heard is that you have to be 100 lbs overweight, but that seems to be fudged in some cases. I've actually heard of people gaining weight so they can have the procedure.

The thing is, this is a lifestyle choice--a drastic one--in which you are forced to eat differently than you have in the past, but with a lot of complications and pretty radical means. It's a choice you make for the rest of your life. Average weight loss over 10 years is about 44-66 lbs. If you don't eat properly, you can negate the surgery by expanding the stomach pouch, in essence wasting everything. Wouldn't it actually be easier to just eat healthfully and exercise to take off this amount of weight, without spending thousands in health care and risking other complications and death? This surgery was developed for people so obese that they could not exercise without putting strain on their system. The people I have seen had the surgery look like balloons that had the air let out of them; they seem haggard and sometimes too thin--especially if they weren't that fat to begin with.

I'm not ruling it out forever--the techniques could be better, or I could get to the point where I truly need it--but I'd rather work on it myself rather than have people rearrange things in my body and basically cause myself malnourishment to meet some sort of societal standard of thinness. What matters is health, and you can be overweight and healthy so long as you are active and eating right, and if you're doing it well, then you're less likely to be overweight, too.

I also have a theory that if you eat like the regimen given to these patients, you'll lose weight, too, although you may have more hunger cravings. Why not try that before surgery (under proper supervision of doctors and dieticians, of course)? Why expose yourself to the dangers of the surgery unless the health benefits TRULY outweight the risks in your case?

The first time someone I knew went through the surgery, I remember my reaction was one of instant anger. I'm not sure why I reacted that way...it seemed that it was a response to such a drastic measure. We're basically telling people it's okay to be dying to be thin, or at least changing your body and your habits so you'll spend the rest of your life eating differently from your peers. In other quarters, that's considered an eating disorder. Here, it's encouraged.

I just don't get it. I'm sure the surgery works for some, but I think others are chasing a magic pill that doesn't exist. And frankly, this surgery isn't going to solve all the problems the person may have...he or she will still have most of them, but just be thinner.

This so makes me want to go to the gym. Grrrr....

No comments: