Morbid obesity - Treatment options
Weight loss programs fall into two broad categories. These include non-operative and operative methods.
Non-operative
- Dietary aids
- Prepared foods
- Anorexic medications
- Hypnosis
- Behavior modifications
- Exercise
Many morbidly obese patients have used these in the past with good results for a short period of time. Short-term weight loss program patients may lose between 20-50 pounds or more.
However, in many circumstances, this entire weight loss is regained at five years. This is true even when the dietary program is combined with behavior modifications, psychotherapy, and anorexic drug therapy. The long-term success rate is very low.
There is no effective drug therapy for maintaining long-term weight loss. Thyroid medications and amphetamines are unsafe.
In addition, some medications have been associated with significant cardiopulmonary damage.
Furthermore, when the patient stops taking the weight loss medications, they usually regain all the lost weight (and often more).
Operative Methods
|
