Gastric-bypass surgery is a life altering operation. This procedure is very difficult on the human body but can yield amazing results. It is possible to lose tremendous amounts of weight in an incredibly short time. Should every morbidly obese person resort to this surgery? Do they have any other plausible options? Does society and the media make this surgery more attractive to the moderately overweight population? Although there are some drawbacks to this surgery, it ultimately provides liberation for obese people who otherwise would be destined to a sedentary life.
If gastric-bypass surgery provides immediate weight-loss, then why doesn’t every morbidly obese person who can afford this procedure opt to have this operation? Do the risks of the surgery outweigh the risks of being morbidly obese? According to the Columbia University Department of Surgery, “Patients who are morbidly or severely obese are at increased risk for health problems and tend to have a shortened life span. There is also added potential risk from continued weight increase. The risk of severe obesity is greater than that of its surgical treatments.
” With this information, why would the morbidly obese people decide against this surgery? “I think that a lot of patients that are seeking bariatric(gastric-bypass) surgery have some level of fear? that can be fear of the unknown,” states Dr. Reto, Ph. D. So is this fear so great that patients decide to stay in their current shape and situation? With all of the information regarding gastric-bypass surgery available, it is hard to believe that some would rather stay immobile or greatly handicapped with this option available.
What other options are available to the overweight community? Dieting, exercise, pills and supplements are all routes that some people try. Do these really work? Almost all physicians and healthcare specialists suggest to first try the natural approach to weight-loss. But it is not always an achievable goal to actually have success while dieting or exercising or even a possibility because of excessive amounts of weight. That is why gastric-bypass surgery is gaining such popularity.
Is this a good thing? Should surgery really become a commonplace occurrence for the overweight community? With the ever-growing plastic surgery phenomenon growing, why can’t a surgery designed to induce a healthier life become popular without the scrutiny? This surgery is used to increase life span, quality of life, and overall state of self-contentment with the new healthier body. Gastric-bypass is not a “plastic surgery” procedure, which is designed to improve one’s appearance.
It is a surgical procedure geared towards improving health on a physical and mental level. There are so many images on television and in the movies that are brought to our attention everyday of beautiful bodies, and associating those bodies with people who are successful in many aspects of life. Reaching the look of these images is not an attainable goal for everyone, but there seems to be an apparent pressure to have the sexy abs or lean physique of these role models. The issue has been switched from being healthy to being sexy.
There are many overweight people who are perfectly healthy, but they feel that they are not skinny enough due to the over mounting pressures of the new sexy images being pushed at the public everyday though commercials and advertisements and television shows. There are multitudes of talk shows that have guests that have had gastric-bypass surgery with terrific results. The question now is, was the surgery for health reasons or for beautification? It has been made clear that being morbidly obese will have horrendous effects on your health and it is actually less risky to have the surgery than to let your body deteriorate.
But if you are healthy and you want the surgery just to keep slim and to get rid of some excess weight, is this a healthy way to lose weight? It is theoretically possible that the media and our new skinny culture developed an unrealistic measure of health from weight. Weight acceptance has reached new plateaus and now there are measures of achieving this new weightless persona through surgery with little to no effort. Why not have the gastric-bypass procedure? It will reduce the weight with little chance of gaining it back. There is really no restriction on diets other than the amount of food that your body will allow you to eat.
The attractive outcome of this procedure can potentially lure in people who really are healthy but would like to fit into the mold that society created. Whether morbidly obese or moderately overweight, gastric-bypass surgery has created a new avenue of massive weight reduction with drastic results making it the most alluring option for losing weight. For the morbidly obese people with health problems, it really is the absolute best and quickest way to reduce weight, health risks, and increase mobility. There are other solutions, but they seem to be overshadowed by the effectiveness of this operation.
Moderately overweight people are somewhat lured into this route through the efficient nature of the procedure and the relative ease of keeping the weight off so that they can fit in socially with the skinnier population. Now there is a chance for normality for the excessively overweight, eliminating a lifestyle of sedentary behavior through gastric-bypass surgery. Works Cited Columbia University Department of Surgery. Columbia University. 1 Mar. 2006. . Dr. Reto Ph. D. Bariatic Edge. 2005. Ethicon Endo-Surgery, INC. 1 Mar. 2006.