What Is Bariatric Medicine?

Weight loss advertisements are all the rage these days

. Television commercials advertize the advantages of one diet and pill after another, cashing in on the obesity plague that has spread across America. However, not all of these products live up to their claims, and they leave many individuals wondering if weight loss is even possible. There is a special field of medicine though, called bariatrics, that deals with weight loss and obesity treatments.

What is Bariatrics?

Bariatrics is a medical field that deals with the treatment of obesity. Overweight individuals are those with a Body Mass Index (BMI) that exceeds a healthy range. Typically, individuals are considered obese if their body weight is over 20 percent more than the recommended weight for their height and age group.

Though people tend to be most familiar with the most extreme form of treatment for obesity, bariatric surgery, the field of bariatrics actually encompasses much more. Diet and nutrition, exercise, behavioral therapy, and prescription medications are all used to help counter and reduce obesity in patients. The field of bariatrics is also concerned with medical research on how to treat and prevent obesity in the future.

What do Bariatric Physicians and Surgeons Do?

A bariatric physician's main goal is to improve the health of his or her patients and consequently improve their quality of life. Obesity can be deadly. It is associated with numerous health problems, including diabetes, asthma, sleep apnea, hypertension, arthritis, heart disease, and many forms of cancer. Obesity has been proven to reduce one's lifespan as well. A bariatric physician seeks to reduce these negative health effects by helping a patient lose weight and enter into a safe and healthy weight range.

Some doctors take a more conservative approach and seek to help obese patients through diet, exercise, and behavioral therapy before considering surgical procedures. Others, such as bariatric surgeons, focus primarily on different surgical procedures designed to help an individual lose weight quickly. The most well-known surgical procedure is the gastric bypass surgery, which reduces the size of the stomach and bypasses a portion of the intestine. However, even bariatric surgeons do not consider surgery to be effective by itself. Even patients who have surgical procedures must commit to lifestyle changes involving a healthy diet and regular exercise. For obese individuals who would like medical assistance in reaching their ideal weight, consulting a doctor at a Birmingham bariatrics clinic may be the place to start.

by: Christine Harrell

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