Invasive surgery carries risks. It might be reasonable to assume, therefore, that unless it is necessary, it is best avoided. Invasive surgery, of course, includes weight-loss surgery and I read today (Independent newspaper 6/07/2015) of the case of nursery nurse Pauline Boyle who two years after a gastric band operation, had to rush to hospital suffering the start of kidney failure. Ms Boyle, 52, from Middlesex had paid £6,250 for the Bariatric procedure at a private clinic and all had seemed well as her weight dropped from 18 stone (114kg) to under ten stones. But then the silicon gastric ring, fitted around the upper part of her stomach slipped, which caused the onset of organ failure. Happily, an NHS operation was able to rectify matters and save Ms Boyle’s life.
This was a case study accompanying an article by journalist Sophie Goodchild who reported warnings by a leading doctor of the lifelong traumas suffered by some weight-loss surgery patients. Ms Goodchild quotes Ray Shidrawi, from London’s Homerton Hospital, as saying: “I’ve got patients who’ve not eaten solid food for four years. They have to live on soup. They can’t go to a restaurant in case they vomit…”
Mr Shidrawi believes the benefits of fat-loss surgery outweigh the risks only in people who would otherwise die because they are morbidly obese ie their BMI exceeds 40. According to the UK National Bariatric Surgery Registry, the average BMI of people undergoing weight-loss surgery in 2011-2013 was 48.8. I read elsewhere that in the USA guidelines suggest that any patient with a BMI over30 with comorbidities should be considered for surgery (Surgery For Obesity And Related Diseases – the journal of The American Society for Metabolican Bariatric Surgery).
So, there seems to be much debate and many a dilemma on at what stage surgery is deemed necessary or advisable.
My own opinion is that weight-loss surgery and all the accompanying risks can be avoided if the patient can be persuaded that he or she has it within his or her own power to drop weight without recourse to invasive treatment. The sooner an overweight person understands this the better. Sadly, too many people now see the operating theatre as an easy-fix solution for a problem they could resolve safely themselves if they were prepared to grasp responsibility. I know this because I see the results of clients who come to me for help. Surgery should not be regarded as a panacea; therapy is not only a safe but an effective treatment for weight-loss.
