Overweight and obesity are defined as excessive accumulation of fat that can be harmful to health and it is caused by an imbalance between the input and expenditure of calories. Obesity is the biggest health problem that humanity is facing at the moment and it causes more deaths than hunger worldwide.
It is estimated that 7 out of 10 people will be overweight and 3 in 10 will be obese in Spain within the next 15 years.
Obesity is also directly responsible for almost half of all diabetes cases worldwide, 23% of ischemic heart diseases and between 7- 41% of certain cancers. Further, it contributes significantly to other health problems such as hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, musculoskeletal diseases, respiratory disorders such as sleep apnea, gastro-esophageal reflux, infertility, etc…
Overweight and obesity are evaluated by calculating the body mass index (BMI), measurement of the abdominal circumference, bio-impedance and the associated diseases and conditions.
The increase in obesity is due to a change in our eating habits. We have increased the intake of foods high in fat and especially in sugars, and reduced our physical activity. There are many reasons such as factors of social, educational, work, family and personal nature.
After trying to solve the problem through diets and having failed many times, there is only one effective and definitive solution which is bariatric surgery.
Today, obesity surgery has evolved into an effective and safe alternative. Recently, new techniques such as the “gastric sleeve” have been developed. It is performed by laparoscopy and has shown excellent results, similar to those of other more complex techniques, like the gastric bypass for example.
The gastric sleeve reduces the stomach volume by 80% but this is not the reason for its success: the part of the stomach that produces Ghrelin, the hormone that makes us hungry, is removed. Gastric sleeve patients eat less, not because they cannot eat more, but because they are less hungry and feel satiated with much less food. The gastric sleeve is simpler than traditional stapling techniques and it does not touch the small intestine, which means that gastric sleeve patients do not have to take vitamins for life as in more traditional surgery techniques.
For more information on this and other obesity treatments, do not hesitate to contact us.
Dr. Carlos Molina
Specialist in General and Gastrointestinal Surgery
July 26, 2016
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