Obesity and Surgery essays

Obesity and Surgery essays Obesity affects millions of people every year because of the changing world, which makes things easier for individuals not to exercise. With that knowledge, it is apparent the changing world has also created ways to where people can get the fat removed by surgery, which is a major health risk. Atul Gawande tells the story of Vincent Caselli, who underwent a gastric bypass to lose weight by surgically reducing the size of his stomach, thus making him physically unable to eat and absorb the nutrients from more than an ounce of food at a sitting. The statistics on the gastric-bypass procedure, the last resort of people who cannot shed weight in other ways, confirm the sharp rise of obesity in this country. According to the American Society for Bariatric Surgery, in 1992 surgeons performed 7 6,200 of the procedures. In 2002, the number jumped to 63,100 and one year later to 103,200. Gawande, who assisted on the surgery, calls this "among the strangest operations surgeons perform" in th at it "is intended to control a person's will-to manipulate his innards so that he does not overeat." Those who, like Caselli, are morbidly obese and whose weight profoundly reduces their quality of life are turning to the gastric bypass more frequently. Gawande, a surgical resident and also a staff writer for the New Yorker, uses the story of Caselli to "contemplate the human appetite." As such, he provides a fitting and compelling end to the selections in this chapter on obesity (Picador and Gawande, 2002). From there, it is apparent obesity is a serious matter in American society due to the quick fix changing society. Along with that, obesity is a growing problem that is killing the American people within society. With new technology, people do not have to work as hard, which gets them to physical unmotivated to be active. Furthermore, like McDonalds has set the tone for bigger food portions such as the super sized meal. From there...