MORBID OBESITY: A PRECARIOUS STATE! BEWARE OF MORBID OBESITY

Morbid obesity is measured with reference to a person’s weight versus height.

A person is said to be suffering from morbid obesity if his/her weight is more than double of the weight that is generally recommended for the person’s height.

Morbid obesity can cause many psychological arising out of the physical debilitating ailments. The main ones are gall bladder disorders, diabetes mellitus, those pertaining to the coronary artery, respiratory problems, and even severe osteoarthritis of the joints particularly those that bear the weight of the body.

The mortality rate among the morbid obese person is 12 times more than even an obese patient of the same sex and age.
Above all, many preoperative and anesthetics problems arise in morbid obese persons. So, they have to undergo a long screening process besides a gestation stage to bring their body’s status to the desired stage when a surgery can be done on them. As a result, standard or minor operations have to be done in an elaborate manner.

The western countries have a good following of patients going for surgery as the permanent means to get rid of obesity. However, in the Asian and African countries it has not gained popularity owing to two reasons: Surgery is still deemed as painful and expensive; there has not been adequate information on obesity.

SURGERIES FOR MORBID OBESE PATIENTS

Over the time, lots of researches have gone into the types of surgeries that can be evolved for such morbid obese patients. The most commonly resorted to was the one that short-circuited or bypassed the gastro-intestinal tract. Maximum absorption of food takes place in the gastro-intestinal tract. Thus, before any absorption could take place the food was carried directly to the large intestine.
However, this process had several disadvantages. So, it was abandoned.

POPULAR PROCEDURES TO ARREST OBESITY

The popular surgeries concentrate on non-interference with the metabolic procedures.

In the post-operation stage, the patient loses a considerable amount of weight.

Within a year’s time, the superfluous fat and skin are removed.

These simple operations are done by reducing the stomach size. As a result, the stomach can now store lesser amount of food.

The reduction methods include three ways: introduction of a balloon into the stomach or stitching or stapling up the stomach.

BARIATRIC SURGERIES: POPULAR MEANS TO TACKLE KID OBESITY

Nowadays, many parents opt for bariatric surgeries to tackle surgeries in their children. These operations cut the adipose tissues – the mainstay of fat content in the body.

There was another method which has fallen into disuse primarily because the body does not get adequate minerals. In this operation, the large intestine is cut short to reduce the absorption of fat. Hence it is not recommended for children. However, it is used to treat morbid obesity.

Yet another means is gaining in popularity is the use of electrodes to make the patient consume less. This is made possible by producing artificial impulses from the stomach to the brain through a pacemaker that is positioned in the brain. The electrodes signal that the stomach has already been filled up.