Weight Loss Surgery in North Carolina

                                                                                         

North Carolina is a wonderful place -- a land of basketball, big smiles, and our unique form of barbecue, of course. Unfortunately, too much of anything – even our famous ‘cue! – can be bad. The fact is that we’re all getting fat here in North Carolina. More than 61% of the population of the Tar Heel State is overweight or obese.
And it’s costing us all. According to a 2004 state survey, obesity-related medical expenditures in North Carolina total more than two billion dollars annually, with slightly over half ($1.11 billion) of this total being financed by the taxpayers – i.e. us. That’s about 6% of North Carolina’s total health care bill!
Obesity is no joke. It’s dangerous, unsightly, and may lead to co-morbidities, which are life-threatening illnesses related to obesity, like diabetes, cancer, heart conditions and hypertension.
It’s easy to see that North Carolina is under attack by obesity. But Tar Heels don’t back down from a fight.

Fighting Fat
Okay – a lot of us are fat. But why? Is it a lack of self control? No way. Obese people are not “fat slobs” by choice. Nobody wants to be obese!
Obesity is not a weakness of character. Obesity is a disease – a medical condition that requires medical treatment. Sometimes the cause of the disease is an unmet psychological or emotional need, with food as a kind of surrogate therapy. Other times the sufferer is biologically addicted to food, just like a junkie is to heroin. Whatever the cause of a given case of obesity might be, however, the person behind it deserves our compassion. Contempt towards those suffering from a disease isn’t the Tar Heel way.
Instead, we should treat obesity medically. Medical treatment for obesity consists of helping the sufferer change his or her lifestyle and eating habits for life. We can do this by means of support groups, doctor-supervised diets, and education. For most obese folks, these methods work. For the rest, weight loss surgery can help.

About Weight Loss Surgery
Weight loss surgery works by surgically altering the patient’s stomach to limit how much food he or she can eat. The surgery itself is performed with the patient under general anesthesia, usually as a laparoscopic procedure. These alterations force the patient to take in fewer calories each day than his or her body burns, which causes the person to drop excess pounds in a relatively short time.
But, surgery only works as part of a total medical treatment plan. It is not a magical cure for obesity. Patients who fail to follow the treatment plan recommended by their surgeon after surgery very often regain the weight they lost. The decision to undergo weight loss surgery is also irrevocable, since most procedures cannot be reversed. Decisions involving surgery of any type should only be made in consultation with a physician.

Let’s do it!
Tar Heels, we can’t let obesity hurt our people. We’re in a major health crisis – let’s beat it! By treating the disease of obesity as a disease, we can win – and we will!

About the author:
Weight loss surgery in North Carolina is a growing trend, since more than 61% of the state population is overweight or obese. Visit online website for Bariatric Weight Loss Surgery .

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