5 Questions To Find Out If You’re A Candidate for Weight Loss Surgery
18 / 09 / 13
Bariatric Surgery
You’ve probably been hearing and reading a lot lately about weight loss surgery. Some people claim that it works like magic, others insist that it still takes work to reach your weight loss goals. Still, the more you read, the more you may be wondering if it’s right for you.
How can you tell if you’re a good candidate for weight-loss surgery? Here are five questions that will help you make that determination and decide about giving us a call for a consultation!
1) Have you tried and failed to lose weight on your own? This is the first consideration. Weight-loss surgery isn’t something to be undertaken lightly, and if you haven’t tried a combination of diet and exercise in order to lose weight, then it should be your first recourse. Weight-loss surgery is for people who have tried over and over again to lose their excess weight alone or via a diet programme and have found that they cannot.
2) Do you have a high BMI?BMI body mass index is the way doctors determine how obese a person is. You’re a good candidate if your BMI is abnormally high and has been for more than five years, and you don’t have an alcohol or drug-abuse history or any untreated psychiatric disorder.
3) Have you educated yourself about necessary lifestyle changes?Weight loss surgery is in many ways only the beginning. Even after your surgery, you may not realise all the available health benefits if you do not follow your doctor’s and nutritionist’s directions.
4) Are you at high risk of a disease due to your obesity?Among the best candidates for weight loss surgery are individuals who already have a weight-related disease (diabetes, for example) or are at risk of one.
5) Have you reviewed all of your options?Selecting which procedure is best for you makes you an educated patient and increases your chances of being a good candidate for weight loss surgery.
Once you have reviewed these questions, talk to your GP. Weight-loss surgery may be for you!