Before we get into the main concern, here's a quick look at a few major facts:

• More than 1 billion adults all across the globe are overweight


• 300 million people all around the world are critically obese
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• Since 1980 the number of obese people in the world has doubled


• These are some eye-opening facts (provided by the World Health Organization, WHO) that show how deep rooted obesity is worldwide.

The major reason behind the large increase in obesity cases is not only due to deteriorating eating habits, but also to the unhealthy lifestyle of the world's population. Due to this health crisis,the medical science has come with a result oriented surgical procedure known as 'Bariatric Surgery', which was specially developed for chronically obese people.

As per the National Institute of Health (NIH), people who have a BMI (Body Mass Index) of more than 40, are recommended to go for lipidology obesity surgery.

Doctors follow two types of surgical procedures for this treatment. Here is a look at those -

• Restrictive surgery - Just like its name, the procedure works on the principal of restricting the food intake by making the stomach smaller.There are various forms of restrictive surgeries that are undertaken. Some of the common ones are -


• LAGB - laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Band


• RYGB - Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass


• Gastric Sleeve Surgery


• Vertical Banded Gastroplasty


• Stomach Stapling


• Malabsorptive Surgery - This type of surgery works on the principle of altering the digestive process in such a way, that there is a considerable amount of weight loss. Because of the serious risk of the patient suffering from malnutrition after the treatment, these methods are not the preferred ones. Biliopancreatic Diversion or BPD, as the medical professionals call it, is the major type of surgery performed under this category of obesity surgery.


• Combination of the two - In search of the most effective treatment, medical professionals have combined both of the above mentioned procedures. Under this treatment, the patient has to go through surgical shortening of the stomach, and at the same time alteration in the digestive system, metabolism, and other body functioning like salt and lipid transportation system, to reduce the absorption of nutrients by the stomach and thereby leading to weight loss. Duodenal Switch and Distal Gastric Bypass are the most common types of surgeries that clinicians perform under this type of treatment.

The extent of the popularity of these surgery can be measured by the fact that more than 100, 000 people, in the United States of America, undergo 'Bariatric Surgery' (annually), to shed their extra pounds and lead a healthy lifestyle.