The figures are just overwhelming as well as alarming. Figures show that in the year 1991 twelve percent of American adults were considered obese. By 2001 the percentage increases to twenty. In fact if we refer to the record of American Medical Association, you can see that 208,000 morbidly obese people die every year due to obesity related diseases like diabetes, heart failure and hypertension. It is predicted that within a few years obesity related deaths will exceed tobacco as the leading cause of preventable death.
For obese individuals, they have a hard time dealing with the problem especially since dieting and exercise seems to be so ineffective. That is probably why more and more people are turning to Gastric Bypass surgery as the most feasible choice. Figures certainly show that more people are now opting for this procedure in spite of the relatively high Gastric Bypass cost. In 1997, it is estimated that about 22,000 gastric bypass surgeries were performed in the United States and by 2002 it increase to 65,000 and they predict it to reach more than 90,000 by the year 2003. This does not include the number of individuals who have undergone non-surgical procedures such as the gastric balloon.
The quoted fatality rate for gastric bypass surgery is 1 in 200 which is much higher than any other major operations (1 in 350). Despite the high fatality rate, still more people opt for this operation. The surgery usually takes two hours to complete and when the operation is a success, it certainly offers a long term weight control. According to studies, patients will lose about 2/3 to 3/4 of their excess weight in their first two years after a successful gastric bypass surgery. It is also recorded that most obesity related diseases like diabetes, heart problems and hypertension have generally improve. Patients who have successful surgery reported that their quality of life has been greatly improved, although is is common to receive plastic surgery after gastric bypass. This is because the skin can become very stretched out when you are morbidly obese, and does not shrink back into place when you lose the weight. Therefore gastric bypass plastic surgery may be necessary to achieve an adequate appearance and this consideration can add to the overall gastric bypass surgery price.
Since there are success stories about gastric bypass surgery, there are reports too of patients who suffer complications of gastric bypass surgery. Statistics of gastric bypass surgery are the following – 5% suffers from Leakage, 4% from Ulcer, 2.5% Hernia, 2% Gallstones, 1.5% Stoma Stenosis, 1% death, and .5% severe infection. Despite this reported complications, the benefits of gastric bypass surgery still outweigh its complications. Still many patients have successfully lost weight and just suffer from minor complications and are now leading a happier and healthier life. That is why despite the possible risk and complications, individuals still opted to have the surgery. Besides, all this complications you can avoid if you just follow what your doctors says before and after the operation.