title: Surgical treatment for obesity: ensuring success.
abstract: In the United States, obesity has reached epidemic proportions. Serious medical complications, impaired quality of life, and premature mortality are all associated with obesity. Medical conditions such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, or sleep apnea can improve or be cured with weight loss. Medical treatment programs focused on diet, behavior modification, and/or pharmacologic intervention have met with limited long-term success. Although surgical treatments for obesity have become popular in recent years, they should only be used as a last resort for weight loss. Not all patients can be considered appropriate candidates for surgery; therefore, guidelines based on criteria from the National Institutes of Health should be used preoperatively to help identify suitable persons. Most individuals who opt for weight-loss surgery have usually struggled for many years with losing weight and keeping it off, but surgery alone will not ensure successful weight loss. Patient education is imperative for long-term success. Moreover, any such educational regimen should include information on diet, vitamin and mineral supplementation, and lifestyle changes, as well as expected weight-loss results and improvements in comorbid conditions. Patients must be willing to commit to a long-term follow-up program intended to promote successful weight loss and weight maintenance and to prevent metabolic and nutritional complications.
authors.affiliation: Medical College of Wisconsin, Department of Surgery, USA.
authors.forename: Deborah A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Andris
mesh_terms: D000359:Aftercare; D052938:Bariatric Medicine / Q000379:methods; D050110:Bariatric Surgery / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods* / Q000401:mortality / Q000451:nursing; D001521:Behavior Therapy; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015897:Comorbidity; D005081:Exercise Therapy; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009767:Obesity, Morbid / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000601:surgery*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology; D010348:Patient Care Team; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D018579:Patient Selection; D019990:Perioperative Care / Q000379:methods / Q000451:nursing; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011788:Quality of Life; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D015431:Weight Loss