About Morbid Obesity
Morbid obesity is common in the United States, affecting more than 7 percent of women and at least 5 percent of men. The long term failure rate of many treatments in patients with morbid obesity approaches 100 percent. Much of the content provided on this Web site attempts to answer common questions about surgery for morbid obesity.
Morbid obesity is defined as:
- weight greater than 100 pounds over "ideal body weight" as determined by standard life insurance tables, or a body mass index (BMI) ≥ 40 kg/m2;
- absence of obesity-related glandular problems (endocrine disorders) caused by obesity;
- medical problems associated with severe obesity (see below). In patients with medical conditions caused by severe obesity, the weight limits for surgery have been lowered.
Significant Health Risks
Morbid obesity is a significant risk to life. It leads to life-threatening conditions such as:
- high blood pressure
- diabetes
- gallbladder disease
- gynecologic cancer
- high blood lipids
- arthritis
- sleep apnea syndrome
- premature death
Surgical Treatment of Morbid Obesity
Due to the high incidence of failure of non-operative methods of weight control in the morbidly obese, surgery is considered an ideal method of treatment.
In 1991, a National Institutes of Health consensus development panel fully endorsed gastric restrictive surgery as appropriate treatment for patients with medically severe obesity.
|
