Weight-y Issues
Obesity is now a global problem. People are getting fatter because of the plethora of unhealthy foods and a sedentary lifestyle. Of course, we all know about the health risks posed by being obese. Some of these are:
- Ischemic heart disease
- Type 2 diabetes
- Hypertension
- Osteoarthritis
- Breathing difficulties esp during sleep
- Abnormal cholesterol levels
- Strokes
- Migraines
…among other things. There is also the social stigma of being overweight, especially among women but also in men. Thus, overweight people are also prone to depression.
Of course, the best way to deal with being overweight is to watch your diet and increase your physical activity (exercise). But to lose weight in a healthy manner, one should not engage in crash dieting or going hungry. Experts do agree that a slow but steady weight loss is healthy.
Not only that, it’s imperative that maintains the weight through a sensible lifetime eating program and enough physical activity to keep the weight from coming back.
For some individuals who are morbidly obese, meaning they are more than 100 pounds over their ideal weight, dieting and exercise just takes too long. In the meantime, they are still subject to the health problems of the obese. For these individuals, it is best to check with a doctor who specializes in weight management.
What the doctors may opt to do is to prescribe some medications which would help in burning the excess fat and/or curb the person’s appetite. Or consider Weight Loss Surgery. Of course, we have to understand that these measures are to jumpstart one’s weight loss. We can’t take medications for weight loss forever. There’s a limit to that and what follows should still be — you guessed it — a sensible diet and exercise program — to maintain the ideal weight.
Bariatric Surgery is is a type of procedure performed on people who are dangerously obese. This weight loss is usually achieved by reducing the size of the stomach with an implanted medical device (gastric banding) or through removal of a portion of the stomach (sleeve gastrectomy or biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch) or by resecting and re-routing the small intestines to a small stomach pouch (gastric bypass surgery). It’s not for everybody who wants to lose “just wants to lose a little weight” but for those who are morbidly obese, have health problems as a consequence and need to lose weight fast and also need assistance for weight control. Of course, as with any surgery, it has its problems, hence it’s important to know who should have it and who should not. It’s different from liposuction where fat tissues are suctioned off. The latter is more for shaping and a quick fix, while the former is more long term.