A real revolution. For hundreds of thousands of obese people, the technique of bariatric surgery “represents itself as the only effective treatment for initiating serious and lasting weight loss”, recalls Claudine Proust in The Parisian. By reducing the capacity of the stomach by fitting a band, patients not only lose weight but also reduce the risk of developing associated diseases such as hypertension, diabetes or osteoarthritis.
With a planet that continues to grow, technology is experiencing a meteoric rise. In 2013, 45,000 operations were carried out in France, three times than seven years ago. Our country, reports the journalist of the daily, is the second country in the world in number of operations carried out compared to the number of inhabitants.
But beware, like any revolution, obesity surgery has its setbacks, especially when it is poorly controlled. After the warning of the High Authority for Health against the too frequent use of this technique for minors, it is the turn of the Academy of Surgery to call for caution, notes the newspaper.
On the ground, specialists confirm. “Today, admits Sylvie Guéroult, surgeon in a Parisian clinic, I remove more rings than I put in”. Because, if the intervention lasts an hour, the rest for the patients is like an obstacle course.
The resumption of weight after five years, the psychological damage are all obstacles for the person who wants to regain the pride of his body.
“It’s a whole behavior that needs to be re-educated, insists Pascal Schmidt, nutritionist. This specialist, like his colleagues, plays the “support role” which will have to continue for at least six years after the operation. Other patients will even need lifelong follow-up. All must submit to 150 minutes of physical activity per week.
Clearly, bariatric surgery is not an end but the beginning of a new life.
