The death rate (morality) from gastric bypass is about 1 out of 350 people (1/350)
The mortality rate for gastric bypass is similar to the mortality rate for other major general surgical procedures done on a group of patients who are obese and have multiple health problems. Risk of dying from any procedure depends on the general health, age, and weight of the individual. Clearly people who are older, have more severe comorbid problems, and are heavier are much higher risk than younger, healthier, less obese counterparts. The most common causes of death after gastric bypass include infection secondary to staple line or suture line leaks, pulmonary embolism, and respiratory problems.
Who else would have this surgery? Surely not a bodybuilder, a fitness model, or a professional athlete. In other words, the only people having this surgery is a person struggling with obesity. Not that it’s an unnecessary procedure, I just feel like doctors these days are all about the money and are more willing to cut a person instead of working with them on a more personal level. Just a little research I did in regards to this popular weight-loss procedure. That’s a pretty high mortality rate for an elective surgery.
May 18, 2007 at 12:54 am
Hmm… Well in my opinion here, it IS unnecessary surgery for most people. And you are right – most doctors ARE only about the money these days.
The people who fall into the trap of getting this surgery only do so because they’ve been brainwashed into believing it’s the only option worth doing. Myself personally, aside from the select few number of people who really DO need surgery to improve their health, I believe most people take this track because they’re too damned lazy to work at it. Yes of course it takes time, effort and faith in yourself to get where you want to go and it’s not an overnight result which is what most people seem to want. Laziness inspired these people to become obese in the first place, and they are now relying on laziness to get them out of it. It’s not teaching them *anything* about themselves at all. Blech.
May 21, 2007 at 7:44 pm
I would like to know what the long-term success rate is for gastric bypass patients. How successful are they in keeping weight off after the bypass is undone (bypasses are eventually un-bypassed by surgery, as I understand it)?
Since gastric bypass is essentially forced starvation, I’d presume these people don’t maintain success – but I don’t know that for sure. What I do know for sure is that starvation diets do not work.
May 21, 2007 at 7:51 pm
I’ll add that I’m not sure its laziness that drives people to GB surgery. There are tons of people like myself that were fat for years and years primarily because of misinformation spouted by news media and book-selling authors.
I think its the avalanche of bad information sets people up for failure after failure when health kicks are attempted. Its enough to leave a person feeling hopeless.