Is Gastric Bypass Surgery a Solution to Obesity?

Gastric bypass surgery is quickly becoming an option as a solution to obesity. Obesity is a term that refers to someone who is excessively overweight. Just by looking around when I go out into public, I would have to say that America as a whole has a weight problem. I think back when I went to school, in a class of 30, I can recall 3 class mates that I thought were overweight. I look at my son’s class and would have guess about 30-40 percent of his class mates’ look heavier than they should be.

Obesity is known to cause premature death, especially if you have been obese for more than ten years. With the number of obese adults estimated to be at about 60 million, obesity is quickly becoming the number one cause of preventable death in this country. The number of obese children stands at about 9 million and has tripled in the past 25 years. This problem is fast reaching epidemic proportions. More and more doctors are beginning to recommend gastric bypass as permanent solution to obesity.

Some of the medical conditions commonly associated with obesity are cancer, high blood pressure, stroke, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, arthritis and bladder control problems. There are also psychological conditions related to being overweight, such as; low self-esteem, anxiety and depression. Another thing that comes along with obesity is discrimination.

Gastric bypass surgery is being used more as a solution to these weight related issues. It is common now for insurance companies to pick up the cost and in the past year Medicare has also started paying for gastric bypass surgery. Medicare agreeing to pay will open the door for the gastric bypass surgery to become more common.

This was a good decision. Gastric bypass surgery is major surgery, but in most cases it is going to add years to your life and increase your quality of life. In the long run it will also save on future health care costs.

Marjorie Salada is the owner of Gastric Bypass Surgery, a site that contains information on gastric bypass surgery and lap band surgery.