Weight Loss Surgery Success, Failure and Risks

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Diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and depression are just a few effects of obesity. Being excessively overweight can also come with social stigmas and alienation. Is it so surprising that people who are obese try drastic measures to lose weight? Measures including: Hollywood fad diets, self starvation, unhealthy exercise routines, diet pills or diet shakes, none of which produce long lasting results but can cause further mental and physical stress on an individual. The fact is, 95% of dieters will regain the weight they lost in 1 to 5 years (National association for weight loss surgery paragraph 32). In these cases, should a person who is overweight subject themselves to weight loss surgery, also known as bariatric surgery, which come with their own set of dangers and side effects? In this essay I wish to discover if the benefits of weight loss surgery outweigh the potential risks.

According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 20% of patients who undergo any weight loss surgey experience complications in some form (National association for weight loss surgery paragraph 15).

There are many types of weight loss surgeries, adjustable gastric banding, also known as a lap band, has had its share of success by providing an average of 40% excess weight loss in the first year and has helped to resolve type 2 diabetes (Welch, paragraph 3). This surgery does come with risks and side affects such as: bleeding, blood clots, perforation of the stomach or asophogous, spleen damage and abdominal infection, these represent a 1% to 3% chance of occurance for the patient, and in less than 1% of patients death (Sutter Health paragraph 6). According to the American Obesity Association there is at least a 10% chance of complication...

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MacLean, Lloyd D and Rhode, Barbara M and Nohr, Carl W. Late Outcome of Isolated Gastric Bypass.

Annals of surgery Vol. 231, No. 4, 524–528, 2000. Web. February 17 2014.

Medline Plus. Gastric Bypass Surgery. US National Library of Medicine National Institute of Health. 6 April 2012. Web. 11 Feb. 2014. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/007199.htm Sutter Health.

Weight Loss Surgery Statistics and Definitions. National Association for Weight Loss Surgery. 2012. Web. March 7 2014. http://www.nawls.com/public/102.cfm?sd=2

Welch, Liz. “Is Weight-Loss Surgery Really Safe?.” Health (Time Inc._ 27.10 (2013): 96. A HealthWatch. Web, library database. 11 Feb. 2014.

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