Bariatric Surgery: What Philadelphia Residents Need To Know

By Author: Opal Oneal
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Not everyone can, or wants to, lose weight via traditional programs like dieting or exercise. Most people who don’t want to lose weight by these means are usually those who cannot abide a very physical regimen, or a sudden change in lifestyle. Those who cannot lose weight, on the other hand, are those with a certain physiology that renders them unable to do so utilizing conventional means.

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the US, with more than two-thirds of the population having elevated Body Mass Indexes (BMI). This is a problem because obesity can lead to potentially life-threatening diseases. But because not everyone can address it on his own effectively, the medical community has come up with ways to do it. One of the most popular new procedures is bariatric surgery.

Bariatric surgery refers to several possible procedures that are designed to help an individual lose weight. It can involve reducing the size of your stomach with a medical device called a gastric band. Another procedure entails re-routing the intestines to a smaller stomach pouch, thereby limiting your food intake.

The most ...
... obvious benefit of these procedures is weight loss. Patients who underwent bariatric surgery report losing more than 50 percent of their excess weight in the first year alone. However, weight loss isn’t the only benefit that patients get from this type of surgery.

People who suffer from diabetes and have gone to doctors that do bariatric surgery Philadelphia residents trust have reported that most of them were able to stop using their diabetes medication after the procedure. Those who used to regularly need large doses of insulin were also able to regulate their blood sugar levels with much smaller doses. This is a boon for diabetes patients, especially if you factor in the savings accumulated for medication.

Philadelphia fitness doctors will also tell you that people who suffer from sleep apnea and asthma experience relief a few months after surgery. Asthma patients report that they suffer fewer and less severe attacks after undergoing surgery, and people who needed special apparatus to sleep because of their apnea were able to discontinue this a few months after the procedure was done. All these benefits lead to what is probably the most important benefit of weight loss: improved self-esteem.

Despite all these benefits, though, one should try to exhaust all avenues of weight loss first, like going to a fitness center or a nutritionist Philadelphia residents trust, as bariatric surgery is still a major procedure and it carries the risks of invasive medical procedures with it. For more information, you can visit Emedicine.Medscape.com or LiveStrong.com.