When diets and other ways to lose weight have already been tried, and the weight continues to increase, many turn to bariatric surgery to reduce the volume in the stomach.
Dr. Helga
Who should consider it?
Any surgery is a risk, so resort to surgery only if your weight has significantly increased and threatens your health and wellbeing. The indications for bariatric surgery are:
- Age 18 to 60 years old
- BMI (body mass index) of 40 and over
- BMI 30–40 in the presence of serious concomitant problems such as metabolic syndrome or type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, joint lesions, obstructive sleep apnea syndrome
- BMI less than 30 with a sharp increase in weight and a history of obesity
How does it work?
Bariatric surgery uses two approaches. The first is a restriction (shrinking of the stomach), by which the amount of food eaten is limited, but the satiety center of the brain receives the signal that the stomach is full. The second is malabsorption, whic...
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