We Midwesterners have no trouble seeing the rampant obesity plaguing the United States. Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus and Indianapolis are routinely listed among the country's fattest cities; concerning states, Indiana is slightly better than average, coming in as the 22nd fittest, according to Mercola.com.
In fact, obesity will become the leading cause of preventable death next year, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
With this threat of death looming, many fed-up, unsuccessful or unwilling dieters are turning to gastric bypass surgery, or stomach stapling. After witnessing the success of semi-celebrities like Al Roker or Carnie Wilson, more and more Joes and Janes want to take the easy way out, too. According to a Washington Post report, during the 1990s, about 16,000 stomachs were stapled each year. In 2003, the number shot up to about 103,000. Experts expect that to increase to 150,000 in 2004.
But the numbers are misleading: As more people opt for the surgery, more doctors are needed to perform it. Sure, the appeal of stomach stapling is obvious and those people who decided to have the procedure done obviously needed it, but the operation is complicated and many medical experts are wary that the surgery is being performed: 1) unnecessarily often; 2) by unqualified or under-trained doctors and, 3) on those who might not need to resort to it. Not yet, at least.
"Many people who are not morbidly obese are trying to get this procedure," Barry Schwartz, of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, said. Instead of dieting or attempting lifestyle changes, according to Schwarz, they view the surgery as "the answer to obesity."
Schwarz also said that his organization has heard of patients whose doctors advised them to eat more to qualify for the procedure. That's right. Some practitioners in the medical community are trying to take the country's failing health and resulting desperation to the bank, according to Schwarz. As obesity gets worse, it seems some doctors' eyes are widening and filling with dollar signs like Scrooge McDuck's.
Of course, the ethics of that medical community have long been questioned; rightly, stomach stapling raises new concerns. The surgery, by all means, is a high-risk and difficult one. Life-threatening complications, including internal bleeding, clotting, leakages and infections often affect patients of the best surgeons. There's also the post-surgery risks, including overeating, which results in a combination of vomiting and diarrhea experts call "dumping." But because many obese Americans are turning their stomachs over to doctors who learned the procedure during one-weekend courses, they aren't sufficiently aware of such risks. Gone is the proper counseling. Gone is the dietary supervision that should accompany these procedures.
According to the National Center for Health Statistics, almost two-thirds of adult Americans were overweight or obese in 1999 and 2000. Two-thirds. But the Food and Drug Administration recommends that only those people who are more than 100 pounds overweight or those who have serious weight-related health problems seek the procedure. For some people, stomach stapling is the answer. For others, a lot can be said for diet and exercise. The cost of personal trainers, nutritionists, gym memberships and fresh vegetables might be steep, but imagine "dumping" after every meal because the doctor who performed your stomach stapling had your wallet -- not your health -- in mind.
Write to Allyn at aswest@bsu.edu
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