Severe obesity is a serious disease that can be treated with bariatric surgery. It is one of the major health problems in the United States. Obesity results from the excessive accumulation of fat that exceeds the body’s skeletal and physical standards. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an increase in 20 percent or more above your ideal body weight is the point at which excess weight becomes a health risk. Today, nearly two thirds of the American adult population is overweight or obese.

If you’re severely overweight, you need to consider losing weight by any means possible. If you have not been able to lose weight or keep it off on your own, then you need to consider bariatric surgery, which has been shown over and over again to improve your health, decrease your risk factors and improve your longevity. I understand that bariatric surgery can be scary but one of the things you have to realize is that being overweight is a silent killer. It is killing you just by sitting there and you have to do something about it. Dr. Gerardo Carcamo*

Morbid Obesity
Morbid Obesity is a condition in which a patient has a BMI of 40 or greater, which is generally 100 or more pounds over ideal body weight. At that point, the person’s weight poses a real health risk. It is a disease with serious medical, psychological, and social ramifications.

Obesity becomes “morbid” when it significantly increases the risk of one or more obesity-related health conditions or serious diseases. The exact causes of morbid obesity are unknown. For some people, genetics could be a contributing factor. For others, it could be poor choices, sedentary lifestyles, lack of exercise, or compulsive overeating. For many people who are morbidly obese, diet plans provide only temporary success and often end in failure.

Am I Morbidly Obese?
Answering this question may give you the courage you need to take the first step. Depending on how you answer this question, surgery may be your best option for permanent, lasting weight loss. Below are some guidelines that you can use to determine if you are morbidly obese and if you are a candidate for weight loss surgery.

There are several medically accepted standards for defining morbid obesity. You are likely morbidly obese if you are:

• more than 100 lbs. over your ideal body weight, or
• have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of over 40
• have a BMI of over 35 and are experiencing severe negative health effects, such as high blood pressure or diabetes, related to being severely overweight
• unable to achieve a healthy body weight for a sustained period of time, even through medically-supervised dieting

Click here to calculate your BMI

*Independent practitioner on the active medical staff of the NIX Health Care System

Attend one of our free weight loss seminars to learn more about your bariatric surgery options in Texas.