Obesity has become one of the most influential of problems in America, and while most people would benefit from a healthier diet, sometimes the issue is more complicated than just changing what you eat. Bariatric surgery, for one, can be quite effective, but many people probably do not opt for it out of lack of knowledge for its safety and efficacy.
The perception has been that gastric bypass is a very risky operation, but the reality is, it is safe, if not safer, than many of the most commonly performed surgeries in America,” explains study co-author Dr. Ali Aminian, a clinical scholar of advanced metabolic and diabetes surgery at Cleveland Clinic.
He treads on: “The risk-to-benefit ratio of gastric bypass for diabetes and obesity is very favorable. There’s significant weight loss, diabetes improvement or remission, and a relatively low complication and mortality rate. In addition, earlier intervention with metabolic surgery may eliminate the need for some later higher-risk procedures to treat cardiovascular complications of diabetes.”
Dr. John Morton, chief of Bariatric and minimally invasive surgery with Stanford University School of Medicine says, “The study was a quite interesting experience for the entire team. Researchers tested the taste sensitivity among people. With the help of a test strip that was impregnated with five taste components i.e. salt, sweet, bitter, umami, and sour, researchers gave different gradations or strength of intensity.”
Morton is also the president of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. He describes that in their research they found that taste sensitivity was lower in obese patients; before surgery. However, after surgery, researchers noted that the same patients had an improvement in taste sensitivities as they were less inclined to crave salty foods. Dr. Morton suggests that the intergastric balloon treatment could be a highly effective procedure for many patients.
The studies also reveal that almost 18 million people in the U.S. opt for weight loss surgery but only 18,000 actually go through one.
