kiamatthews:

The fact is that she’s getting healthy. Maybe not by methods you would choose but who cares? Bariatric surgery is NOT a quick fix. She’s well aware that she needs to put in the effort. So what, you only want people to be healthy via the Jeff Cagle method of biking 16 miles around the suburbs? Insert over the top eyeroll and hairflip.

read the rest here.

Forgive my cherrypicking. But here’s why I care about the method:

Four of every 10 obesity surgery patients develop a complication, such as a hernia, within 6 months of leaving the hospital, according to a new study by HHS’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The study is the most extensive to date on post-surgical complications from obesity operations based on insurance claims data.

The researchers found that the complication rate among non-elderly obesity surgery patients with private insurance increased by 81 percent following hospital discharge—from 21.9 percent while they were still hospitalized to 39.6 percent by the end of the 180-day study period.

The five most common complications were dumping syndrome, which includes vomiting, reflux, and diarrhea (nearly 20 percent); anastomosis complications (complications resulting from the surgical joining of the intestine and stomach), such as leaks or strictures (12 percent); abdominal hernias (7 percent); infections (6 percent); and pneumonia (4 percent). The overall death rate for entire the 180-day postoperative period studied was low—0.2 percent.

Complications from obesity surgery also increased costs. Medical care spending averaged $36,542 for obesity surgery patients who experienced a complication up to 180 days after surgery, including their initial hospital stay; spending for patients without complications averaged $25,337. In addition, medical care spending for patients who had to be readmitted because of a complication during the 180-day period averaged $65,031 compared with $27,125 for those who did not have to be hospitalized again. [source]

At the end of the day, bariatric surgery is just an elective procedure that physically creates the scenario that the patient didn’t have the willpower to do on their own: eat less so their body can burn more calories than it consumes. It’s a complicated solution to a simple equation that costs tens of thousands of dollars, and potentially tens of thousands more if a complication arises. And that cost gets passed along to everyone else through higher insurance premiums.

Are there more factors that go into the rising costs of healthcare in America? Absolutely. But when the leading cause of death in this country is estimated to cost more than $500 billion this year when factoring health care expenditures and lost productivity from deaths and disability — and the most common form of it is caused by preventable factors like an unhealthy diet, lack of exercise, being overweight and smoking — I only tend to hear ca-ching ca-ching ca-ching when I see the morbidly obese portrayed as helpless victims in the media and an expensive surgery as their “only option” for losing weight. Sure, they might finally be on the path to getting healthy, but what the hell were they doing in the runup to getting to the point they became so obese they could barely move?

I’m not a doctor and I’m not a politician. I likely can’t create change on a large scale. But I do have this blog and therefore a virtual platform start a dialog about this stuff — even if I am abrasive at times. And no, riding a bike isn’t the weight loss solution for everyone, especially if they’re to the point that they can barely pull themselves off a couch. I never said it was. But it is a great way for people to prevent themselves from becoming a statistic and adding to our healthcare costs. And it’s a great feeling to know that just the sight of me riding down the street can inspire a 50-something-year-old woman to dust off her helmet, get outside and be active. Because that inspiration can be contagious, and that’s where I do have the power to make a difference. It makes me feel like I’m at least contributing something tangible to this whole debate.