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The Ideal Candidate for Weight Loss Surgery
You are a candidate for weight loss surgery if you fulfill the following criteria based on medical indications:
- Your Body Mass Index is greater than 40 or greater than 35 with associated medical conditions e.g. diabetes
- You have failed to permanently reduce your weight using nonsurgical methods
- You have an absence of endocrine disorders that can cause morbid obesity
- You are psychologically stable
- you do not abuse alcohol and drugs
- you understand how surgery causes weight loss
- you realize that surgery itself does not guarantee results
Measure your weight and height, calculate your Body Mass Index and ask yourself the following questions:
- Is your body mass index (BMI) greater than 40 or greater than 35 with obesity related comorbidity?
- Do you suffer from serious co-morbid diseases associated with severe obesity?
- Do you feel that your weight poses a threat to your life or do you just hate the way you look?
- Is your weight interfering with your everyday life, i.e. your ability to look after your family or enjoy your life?
- Have you really tried to lose weight by dieting and modifying your lifestyle, such as increasing exercise?
- Are you happy with the amount of weight you lost by diets? Has this weight loss improved your quality of life or your associated medical conditions?
- If you were successful in losing weight, have you been able to keep the weight off or have you gained it all back?
- Do you feel that you will never succeed in achieving permanent weight loss without weight loss surgery?
- Are you convinced that your excess weight is a danger to your health?
- Are you seeking weight loss surgery only to improve your appearance?
- Are you willing to undergo a psychological assessment if your surgeon determines that this is necessary?
- Are you prepared to modify your eating habits required by weight loss surgeries which reduce the amount of food that you will be able to eat after the surgery (RY gastric bypass or adjustable gastric banding)?
- Are you prepared to face the altered body image induced by massive weight loss? If not, are you willing to undergo further plastic surgery to undergo the so-called body contouring procedure?
The answers to the above questions can help you determine if you are a candidate for weight loss surgery. If you think that you are a weight loss surgery candidate, then make an appointment to see Dr. Christou or another experienced bariatric surgeon. Only an experienced bariatric surgeon can help you make the final judgment as to your suitability for weight loss surgery as well as determine which procedure is best for you.
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