Weight Loss Surgery

By Atul Madan, MD, FACS

Obesity is a problem that continues to affect Americans every day.  Sometimes health care providers forget how it truly affects people.  The list of medical problems related to obesity is endless.  The short list includes diabetes, high blood pressure, sleeping problems, reflux disease, difficulties with pregnancies, cancer, heart disease, lung problems, joint pain, back pain, and fatigue.  If you are overweight, most doctors will tell you to eat right and exercise.  While correct food choices and being active are an important part of losing weight, the plain fact is that they are not enough to have long term weight loss.  Going up and down in weight (or “yo-yo’ing”) is very common.  We spend billions of dollars on trying to lose weight on pills and products that never work.

So, what really works to help with weight loss?  Weight loss surgery does.  It has been around for years; however, there are different types of weight loss surgery.  Even with the riskier procedures (“stomach stapling” procedures) in 1991, the National Institute of Health stated that surgery is the effective treatment.  But stapling the stomach does not come without risks including leakage from staple lines and death.   I have performed many procedures that involve stapling the stomach and patients do lose weight.  Unfortunately, any patient who undergoes those procedures must be willing to undergo some major risks.

Luckily, the Lap Band® procedure gives overweight patients an option to lose weight with very little risk.  The Lap Band® is placed around the stomach.  It is tightened so that a small amount of food makes you feel full.  But it does not involve cutting or rerouting your stomach/small bowel.  Decreasing the amount you eat will help you lose weight.  The less calories you take, the more fat you will burn.  This simple device and simple concept has helped thousands lose weight.

So how if you are overweight and are considering Lap Band® surgery, how do you choose where to go?  I recommend asking a few questions:  How many procedures have the practice performed?  How many procedures have the surgeon performed?  Is the surgeon experienced in doing Lap Band® surgery?  Do the doctors (versus nurses) follow the patients after surgery?

Being overweight is not something that you have to live with and unfortunately, for many, it is something that you cannot live with.  There are options beyond the typical “just diet and exercise” that work.