An article on bariatric ("weight loss") surgery that may save lives
The latest installment in Sandy's Swzarc's bariatric series at her Junkfood Science blog may save lives--by presenting facts about bariatric (or "weight loss") surgery people might not find out otherwise.
I have a hard time imagining someone choosing to surgically induce an eating disorder and malnutrition through such surgeries after reading this article, with its heartrending descriptions of what patients have gone -- and are going -- through.
But on the other hand, fat hatred and prejudice are so prevalent in our society -- and so frequently internalized -- that, as a physician Sandy quotes notes, not even patients who have experienced terrible health problems after such surgery say they regret it, "such is the praise they get from others for losing weight."
Several of my patients have had bariatric surgery, two of them over thirty years ago when it was a rarity....One lady passes kidney stones every couple of weeks. Another regurgitates anything solid that she tries to eat and yet has only lost 20 pounds in six months....Another can not eat more than one slice of toast at a time without getting sick. Some have chronic diarrhea. Many have nutritional deficiencies. A couple have gained their weight back after 10 or 20 years. And yet, not one of them says they regret having the surgery, such is the praise they get from others for losing weight. If asked, every single one of them would call themselves healthier, but from my perspective their health is worse. They all require more monitoring and more interventions than they did before having the surgery. [Emphasis mine]
The physician (who posts anonymously at the Medpundit blog...one of several health professionals and pharmaceutical industry insiders who are maintaining industry-critical blogs anonymously due to apparent fear of retribution) is especially concerned about the "up and coming trend" of performing gastrointestinal mutilation -- err, bariatric surgery -- on children.
It's the height of arrogance...to push this medically induced malnourished state on a still developing and growing child. We don't know what damage we may do in the long-run to their bodies or their minds with these procedures.
Read Sandy's excellent article "Why we never hear, why people don't talk and why people don't want to know..." here.
While you're at it, read the other articles in her bariatric series:
"When scares become deadly -- weighing the actual risks of dying of obesity"
"Unprecedented campaign to force insurers to cover bariatric procedures"
As you may know, "bariatrics" is the branch of medicine specializing in "obesity treatment" -- that is, "treatments" intended to create weight loss. Wouldn't it be amazing if bariatric medicine actually focused on making or keeping fat people healthy rather than trying to make fat people thin?
I'm so glad to see this happening. It's time some neutral information started surfacing. Kudos to you for posting it as well.
Posted by: Melting Mama | February 09, 2007 at 08:43 AM
"Wouldn't it be amazing if bariatric medicine actually focused on making or keeping fat people healthy rather than trying to make fat people thin?"
Truer words were never spoken.
Posted by: Pat Kight | February 14, 2007 at 02:21 PM