This is our 1st video in a series covering all aspects of bariatric surgery for weight loss. In this introduction to bariatric surgery video, Dr Leon Cohen explains what it is, who’s a candidate and why the gastric sleeve is such an effective option for many people suffering obesity.
Introduction to Bariatric Surgery
Video Transcription
We talk today with Dr. Leon Cohen, the general and bariatric surgeon for Mercy Bariatrics which was established in 2004. Under his direction, Mercy Bariatrics’ success is much more than just about the surgery.
Doctor, what is bariatric surgery?
Dr. Leon Cohen: Dennis, bariatric surgery is the surgical practice to help people lose weight with operations designed to facilitate that. It comes from the Greek “baros” which is weight and it really is one of the growing specialties in general surgery. But bariatric surgery it turns out to be a lot more than just operations to lose weight.
We now understand that a lot of the powerful effects of bariatric surgery is actually on the metabolism of the patient. And we can now design operations whose main impact seems subtlety changing the metabolism of the patient rather than necessarily losing them a lot of weight.
But for practical purposes, most of the patients who come to see me have primarily a weight problem and that’s what the surgery is designed to address.
Dennis: And the weight problem creates the other health problems.
Dr. Leon Cohen: In most cases, the weight problem does create the other illnesses. In fact, there is no bodily system that is not adversely affected. Most of the time, by normalizing the weight and reducing it, those illnesses seem to disappear.
There are a number of criteria that we use to select people suitable for surgery. The most commonly applied one is based on a measurement called BMI or body mass index, and that’s a measurement derived from the patient’s height and their weight and it takes into account that the taller patient is the more weight they can legitimately carry.
A normal BMI is 20 to 25, 25 to 30 is overweight, and I’ve got a BMI of 30, 30 to 35 is obese. Anything over 35 is considered to be morbidly obese or severe obese. Calculate your BMI.
And generally, bariatric surgery is offered to patients when they have a BMI over 35. But BMI is just a number. And there are some people for example who have a BMI between 30 and 35 but are afflicted with a number of the illnesses associated with their obesity who legitimately would benefit from this surgery and for whom we perform the surgery.
What makes a person decide to have the surgery?
Dr. Leon Cohen: Well Dennis, I think everyone’s decision is different. But there are some common themes. Increasingly, it’s at the suggestion of their general practitioner who recognizes the improvement in their health that a bariatric surgery can deliver.
Sometimes it’s because a family member has had the surgery and been impressed by their outcomes or a close friend has had the surgery and often, they may not have seen them for a while and then they do and they’re blown away at the improvement.
Sometimes it’s because of an insult they have received, their last straw. But whatever the reason, we have to make sure that they understand all of the implications of the surgery because in most cases, there’s no going back.
Mercy Bariatrics Perth
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Watch Video 2: Types of Bariatric Surgery.
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