The Difficulty of Defeating Obesity is the Basis of Bariatric Medicine, says West Medical

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 13, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- A January 23 article on MSN reports on how to calculate if one is medically obese and how to combat obesity using a multifaceted approach. Southern California based weight loss clinic West Medical says that, while such prescriptions are completely valid, they entirely ignore the fact that, when it comes to diet, cutting food intake significantly over a long period is far easier said than done. The fact of the matter is that obesity is a serious, potentially life-threatening condition that can be extremely difficult to permanently defeat without a medical intervention of some sort, says the medical group.

West Medical says that in order to understand why obesity is so hard to fight, one has to understand one of its underlying mechanisms. On some level, says the center, the body doesn't really "care" that it might be obese. It was essentially designed to survive into the childbearing years with maybe a little extra time to help continue the species by becoming a grandparent during one's mid-thirties. What the body greatly "fears" however, is starvation foreshadowed by a dramatically lower caloric intake and weight loss. During most of human history, says the center, food was relatively scarce and being fat was seen as a good thing because it meant one could survive a famine more easily. So, when individuals begin to lose weight, the body does whatever it can to encourage more eating to store calories before the next famine. This often leads to excessively sharp feelings of hunger that can be very difficult to ignore, the center adds. The exact mechanisms behind this phenomenon are not fully understood, the center notes, but are believed to be caused by the same hormones responsible for ordinary feelings of hunger, most famously ghrelin.

West Medical says that weight loss procedures are all designed to reduce the appetite while such procedures as a gastric sleeve may actually greatly reduce the body's production of ghrelin. The result, says the medical group, is that patients are not bothered by incessant cravings for food and can actually do the work of changing their dietary habits without being driven to distraction.

West Medical says that the dangers of obesity are many in number, with a majority of obese individuals also suffering from related conditions and diseases. The center notes that heart disease, osteoarthritis, hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, fatty liver disease, and many other serious health problems are directly related to or seriously aggravated by obesity. Naturally, reducing or eliminating obesity, West Medical continues, will tend to reduce or even eliminate these issues in many cases.

The clinic notes that weight loss surgery is not necessarily appropriate for all patients who may not be defined medically as obese. West Medical says that it also offers non-surgical approaches such as gastric balloon surgery and endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty. Each of the options carries with it a different set of pros and cons. The important thing, West Medical notes, is that patients do have options when they are ready to consider weight loss surgery.

Interested readers can learn more about West Medical by visiting its website at https://westmedical.com or by calling (855) 690-0565.

SOURCE West Medical