When should you consider gastric surgery?

In the dark of the night when you are the only person around to talk to, it's not so hard to admit the risks associated with your high body weight. Wherever you look, the medical evidence of a link between excessive weight and high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease is reported as a fact. Unlike climate change where there are doubts about the science, you put your health at risk if you allow those additional pounds to stay on your body. Except what is easy to say is difficult to act in in the cold, hard light of day. Let's face it, if losing weight was easy, most people would do it. The fact that the majority put a brave face on things and continue life as best they can is an indication of just how difficult it is to diet. Why is eating less so difficult? It all comes from childhood. From the beginning, we see adults packing away large quantities of food. The portions put in front of us are big, so we adjust to eating more. By the time we grow into adults, we are conditioned to eat more and habits are hard to break. That's what may make gastric surgery look an attractive option. You go into hospital. A band or staples are inserted to physically limit the amount you can pack into your stomach. No matter what your eyes may tell you, you will be full after just a few regular mouthfuls. Nature then takes over and your body will now burn the stored fat as energy. After six months, you can be back to a thin body shape. But life is not easy. While you are adjusting to eating less food, you will feel some discomfort. It is not hunger as such because your stomach will tell your brain it is full. Your body will nevertheless register the weight loss. This tricks some people into forcing more food into their stomachs. They feel they should eat more even though the messages from the stomach deny it. Because of these psychological risks, surgeons prefer only to operate on people who already have symptoms of disease arising from their high BMI. They must have made real attempts to lose weight the conventional way and convince the surgeons they are motivated to eat responsibly after surgery. If the operation is approved, it costs about $17,000 for keyhole surgery and $26,000 for the full operation. Given the savings on the treatment of the obesity-related diseases, you will recover these costs in between two and four years. Many health insurance companies will pay for these operations. Surgery is always risky and many prefer to avoid it if possible. This leaves dieting, an exercise program and meridia as the only choice. Eating smaller portions of healthy food starts off the process. Exercise burns off more pounds. Meridia keeps your appetite under control and maintains your motivation while the pounds come off. Note the key word, "motivation". It all comes down to you to keep to the healthy path. If your will is not strong enough, you will lapse into the old habit pattern of eating too much of all the wrong foods. If that happens to you, it may suggest surgery is not for you. Overeating with a stapled stomach damages your body.

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