When obesity gets out of hand, unresponsive to dietary, lifestyle and medical interventions, drastic measures are needed to cut down calorie intake. Morbid obesity with a BMI (body mass index, a measure of malnutrition) above 40 kg/m2 is an indication for surgical procedures such as gastric bypass surgery. Gastric bypass is now a well-trodden path to lower BMIs and achieve healthier lives in 18 months or so. First used in the 1950s, only the last two decades have seen safe and successful gastric bypass surgery with any consistency. Half a century of meticulous observations and patient follow-up has led to the formulation of strict guidelines to ensure desired results.

As our country gains weight at an alarming rate, we are spending more each year on products that promise us easy, effortless weight loss. Each year in the United States, an estimated 35 billion dollars is spent each year on weight loss products. The problem is that in spite of headlines that feed our hopes that a new, secret, “better” weight loss formula has been discovered, the truth is there are no easy solutions to losing weight.

Surgery is the most severe of the recommended treatments for obesity. Bariatric surgery is reserved for cases of severe obesity that have been resistant to all other methods of weight loss and weight control. There are two basic types of bariatric surgery (also known as gastrointestinal surgery), each with a different purpose. The risks for both are similar, as are the prospective results and outcome. Restrictive Weight Loss Surgery The first type of bariatric weight loss surgery is 'restrictive'. It includes the well-known 'stomach stapling'.

During the past 20 years, there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States. Thirty states have obesity rates of more than 20 percent. Currently, more than 44 million Americans are considered obese, the result of our fast-food life style and lack of exercise.