DIETS & EXERCISE
The conservative treatment of morbid obesity by dieting and exercise programs is notoriously unrewarding. Most people who are obese will have tried many diets and weight reduction programs. They usually produce only very limited and transient weight loss. In fact, most people who have tried dieting regain the lost weight and more - so called “yo-yo dieting”. The failure of diet programs led to the hope that a surgical procedure would be able to achieve lasting weight loss.
SURGERY
Obesity surgery (known medically as bariatric surgery) has been performed for many years but it is only in the last fifteen years or so that it has advanced sufficiently to become a mainstream treatment option, mainly through the development of operations that have much less unpleasant side effects for the patient, and the introduction of keyhole (laparoscopic) surgery. There are several surgical techniques available and some that have been tried and are now no longer performed.
Weight loss brings personal satisfaction, a rise in self esteem and social benefits, however more significantly, the health problems associated with morbid obesity improve progressively with weight loss, and people requiring drug therapy, say for hypertension or diabetes, find it can become unnecessary to take medication.