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Am I Considered a Candidate for Bariatric Surgery?

Posted by Bariatric Center on Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

Candidacy for bariatric surgery is decided primarily by your Body Mass Index. Any patient with a BMI over 40 is an automatic candidate for surgery, as is anybody with a BMI over 35 with certain co-morbidity factors.

Whether or not weight loss surgery is worth the money has a simple answer; it all depends. While that may not have necessarily been the answer that you were looking for, it is the truth. For many individuals, weight loss surgery is well worth it; however, there are others who don’t end up benefiting from weight loss surgery. To determine if weight loss surgery is worth the cost to you, personally, you will want to take a number of factors into consideration.

One of the many factors that you will want to take into consideration, when determining if weight loss surgery is worth the cost for you, is your weight. You will find that many weight loss surgeons require that you are at least eighty pounds overweight to undergo weight loss surgery. With that in mind, you may be able to find a surgeon who will make an exception, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you should opt for surgery. If you are able to try to lose the weight on your own, through the use of exercise, eating healthy, or diet pills, you may find it more affordable to do so. I certainly recommend it if you can do that.

Do you have the ability to set goals and follow through on them? Weight loss surgery may help you lose weight right away, but the surgery alone will not help you lose weight. You can even cause yourself harm if you overeat following a bariatric operation, so you have to be prepared to follow the guidelines of what the doctor tells you. If you do not think that you can follow all of the instructions given to you, following a weight loss surgery, surgery may not be the best option for you.

Is weight loss surgery right for you?

There are many factors to consider when deciding to undergo weight loss surgery. Hopefully these will help lead and guide you to make the right choice for your life. Remember that bariatric surgery can be a life altering event and can even lead to death in a small percentage of cases. It is serious stuff, so you need to understand it all. Speaking to your general family doctor first about your concerns about your weight is one of the first steps you can take to changing your obesity problem and determining if weight loss surgery is necessary. Not all individuals are candidates for weight loss surgery.

Important Factors In Determining The Need to Have Weight Loss Surgery

  • BMI Index
  • Comorbid Chronic Health Conditions such as Diabetes and High Blood Pressure
  • Psychological Health
  • Money - Can you get the money to afford wls?
  • Determination to Lose Weight

Related Terms: gastric bypass, obesity, , lose weight, sleeve gastrectomy, wls operations, after gastric bypass

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