by Brandon Cornett
I’m certain that many people will read the title of this article and say, “What do you mean weight loss surgery kills? I thought weight loss surgery was the perfect solution for being overweight!”
If you are thinking something similar to this, then you have been misinformed. But it’s not your fault. I blame the marketing materials of greedy weight loss surgeons for this false public perception. Am I being too harsh? Hear me out before you decide.
Weight loss surgery today is exploding in popularity, the way plastic surgery exploded in the late 80′s and early 90′s. As a result of the ever-growing demand for weight loss surgery, many surgeons and surgery centers publish articles, brochures and websites that basically glorify weight loss surgery as a magical path to health.
Let’s call a spade a spade here. You visit the websites of these surgery centers, and you see slim and beautiful stock-photo models smiling back at you — as if to suggest that you too can look like this, if only you have weight loss surgery.
Another common tactic is to showcase before-and-after photos of a select few patients who experienced tremendous results (often because they combined surgery with rigorous exercise and nutritional programs.
Come One, Come All – Get Your Weight Loss Surgery Over Here!
I find it utterly disturbing that so many bariatric surgeons have loosened their definition of what makes a qualified candidate for weight loss surgery. In the past, this type of surgery was reserved for the “morbidly obese” — which is a medical term for people who will literally die from their obesity, if left unchecked.
Now contrast those restrictions to the current state of weight loss surgery in the United States. Consider the fact that surgeons are performing surgery on teenagers who are merely overweight (and not nearly “morbidly obese”). Consider the before-and-after pictures on the websites of many weight loss surgery centers, and the fact that many people pictured in their “before” state would never have qualified for weight loss surgery ten years ago.
Morbidly obese, by most medical definitions, refers to people who are overweight by 100 pounds or more. Yet I see “before” photos of young people who couldn’t be more than 40 pounds overweight. What has happened to the medical standards in this country?
The “Darker Side” of Weight Loss Surgery
As a result of all this “feel good” marketing and looser standards, the general public today has an incredibly skewed perception of weight loss surgery. What you don’t hear about nearly as much, however, are the many patients who die each year as a result of having weight loss surgery. Consider the following data:
- The Journal “Nature” once reported that 4.6 percent of people who undergo bariatric weight-loss surgery die within one year. That’s nearly one out of 20 patients.
- Weight loss surgery has become big business for surgeons, with the average procedure coming in at around $25,000. Think this has something to do with their eagerness to perform these surgeries? Hmmm…
- A Stanford University study shows that people who have had weight loss surgery have less tolerance to alcohol, and that it takes longer for the alcohol to clear their system. Watch out for those DUIs.
- According to US researchers, gastric bypass surgery can lead to a vitamin deficiency that causes memory loss and confusion. And you thought you were just losing pounds!
- According to the University of Arkansas for Medical Science, gastric bypass surgery can lead to potentially disabling neurological conditions, likely caused by nutrient deficiencies.
- A blogger with the New York Times cited a New England Journal of Medicine report suggesting a connection between weight loss surgery and increased risk of suicide.
- Other research suggests a connection between weight loss surgery and other addictions such as alcoholism. In a nutshell, the weight loss surgery patient trades one addiction (food) for another addiction (alcohol) because the core psychological problem has not been addressed.
Here’s the most important thing to keep in mind about the findings and studies listed above. There is very little long-term research or data on weight loss surgery. Many of the studies mentioned above are relatively young, from a scientific research standpoint. So if this is what we are finding out now, what do you think we will find out about years from now … after you’ve had your weight loss surgery?
You could literally fill up a two-page brochure with this kind of negative information and data. But you won’t find it presented that way in the marketing materials of weight loss surgeons and surgery centers. It may be there, but it will be tucked away in the fine print somewhere, or else glossed over entirely.
There is a good side and a bad side to everything in the medical world. But with weight loss surgery, it seems the bad side is getting harder and harder to spot. Maybe we are all blinded by those attractive models smiling back at us from the brochures and websites.
