Surgery for weight loss part 2

Both Medicare and many medical insurance companies have even more stringent criteria for individuals who wish to undergo surgery. These include meeting the following requirement:

- Individual with a body weight more than 100%
above ideal body weight
- Individual who has one or more obesity related
co morbidities including diabetes, hypertension,
urinary incontinence, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea.
- Failure to lose weight after undergoing a
medically supervised weight loss program

These criteria are simply guidelines and the ultimate judgment on who can undergo weight loss surgery belongs to the surgeon. In each and every case, the individual is told about potential complications and possible benefits. All individuals who attempt to undergo surgery for weight loss must be realistic, be able to comprehend what is at stake and remain committed to an exercise program.

Of course, not everyone can undergo surgery. There are some individuals who should not undergo bariatric surgery. These include the following individuals:

- Those with a mental health problems like a
psychotic illness, e.g. schizophrenia
- Those who have an active substance abuse problem
- Those who have shown to be non compliant with
following instructions or taking their medications
- Who have other psychiatric conditions, including
borderline personality disorder
- With uncontrolled depression which has been difficult
to treat with drugs
- Who are at high risk of heart disease

Bariatric surgery is no piece of cake. While one can have the best surgeon, the patient must also play an important role in the process. Besides simply eating less and exercising more, one also needs to change one’s lifestyle. This means having to sacrifice friends, family and a lot of food.