There are giant BILLBOARDS advertising the Lap Band around here. "50 pounds overweight? Get the LAP BAND!!!"
It 's an outrage...but not the first time someone has taken advantage of other people's misery...
I guess 'cause you can make money off surgical procedures, but not by encouraging lifestyle modification......
I noticed that a lot when I was out in LA (not sure if that is where you are, elisabethd), and it certainly seemed unseemly.
I'm not one to tell other people how to spend their money, but rearranging the way your gut was designed to solve a problem caused by what is between your ears is just a terrible idea. When it's marketed to seem like it is no more difficult or serious of a choice than buying the cheeseburger that got you in the condition to begin with, I get where you are coming from.
If a person is so obese, it is threatening their health and they cannot lose weight, I think it might be worth the risk. I wonder if it has the same effect on diabetes as gastric bypass does?
If a person is so obese, it is threatening their health and they cannot lose weight, I think it might be worth the risk. I wonder if it has the same effect on diabetes as gastric bypass does?
Key words here being threatening their health. How immediate it the threat? Are you so overweight that you can't get up off your chair without gasping for air? Or is your BMI 28...and you are perfectly capable of doing something about it yourself? I just plain don't understand putting people at a greater risk than their weight is posing for a 1 in 200 chance at death on the table!!! (for the bypass)
I think the problem is that different people perceive their weight in completely different ways. At my top weight I still managed to walk around, do a job where I was on my feet all day, etc. Did it take a lot of effort to do so, was I completely wiped when I came home? Yes.
I see people (not here) on another board I sometimes post on, talking about how they can barely walk to the end of their driveway. This is a weight loss board where people generally have a weight loss ticker. So, I'll be reading their post and then see that they're either where I am now, or sometimes even lighter. If their perceptions are valid, then their reasons for surgery might be as well.
I also think for people like myself, who would never consider surgery, will never likely understand those who do. Especially those who don't seem to have a lot to lose. A local practice is running ads with people who I would not consider candidates. I forget about the guy, but I'm sure the woman is just slightly over 200lbs, and making comments like she wants to lose weight so she can go to Paris with her husband. I know it's marketing, but really, there isn't a weight limit for going to Paris. I can't remember the heaviest I was when I flew last, but except for my mother raising the arm on the seat between us, no real issues. And on one flight where we couldn't it was uncomfortable, but not THAT uncomfortable.
I found the ad sad, as if the woman finally went to Paris, would she enjoy it? (I know, she's not real!)
There's a show called Big Medicine where it is a practice in Texas (Dallas maybe) that specializes in bariatric surgery. Those patients are often in bad shape and need to lose 50-100 pounds before they can have the surgery. It's an interesting show. There's a place for the surgery for some patients I think - the less invasive procedures being advertised now and the patients they are aimed at - that does bother me. But - on the whole - I'm glad the people are able to lose weight and get healthier even if I wish that they did it in a different way that was more likely to give them long term results.
Underneath it all (so to speak) if they don't figure out why they gained the weight and how to deal with those issues I don't think they will ultimately be successful. I hope they get the help of good therapists (like Wendy) so that they can use their surgery as a jump start to an active and healthy life.
The New Procedure for Weight Loss???
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