| Ontario to increase availability of weight loss surgery |
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| Monday, 05 February 2007 | |
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Gastric banding achieves weight loss by placing a silicone ring around the patient's stomach, thereby reducing the capacity of the stomach and making the patient feel fuller while eating less food. "For some patients who have already been fighting severe weight problems through diet and exercise, bariatric surgery is a medical treatment of last resort," Health Minister George Smitherman said. Gastric banding is one of the most effective methods of weight loss surgery for people who are morbidly obese, and studies show that patients lose an average of 77 lbs after the procedure. Although many members of the public believe that liposuction can be used for weight loss, this is not the case, since liposuction does not typically remove sufficient quantities of fat for significant weight loss, and is more suited to removing stubborn areas of fatty tissue that haven't responded to exercise and dieting. The advantage of gastric banding surgery is that it can modify eating patterns and allow the patient to lose weight naturally and in a controlled manner. With lower weight and a more normal body mass index, incidents of secondary ailments that result from morbid obesity, such as Type II diabetes, blood pressure and cardiac disease are reduced. Despite a growing obesity problem and the noted success of the procedure in achieving weight loss, seven medical centres in Canada stopped providing the procedure since 2002, and demand now outstrips supply. Of the 4,500 patients who underwent the procedure last year, it is estimated that only 300 of them had their gastric banding operation performed in Canada. |
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