What is Morbid Obesity and How to Treat It

What is morbid obesity?

Morbid obesity is the most serious and dangerous form of being overweight. It is known as morbid because the excess weight of the patient causes more critical and dangerous health problems such as heart problems, diabetes, high blood pressure, acid reflux, and sometimes even cancer.

Apart from the great health risks, patients present emotional problems, rejection due to excess weight, and teasing that end up affecting their quality of life much more. A person is morbidly obese if they are at least 50 kilograms overweight over their ideal weight or have a BMI (Body Mass Index) greater than 40. Patients who have been diagnosed with morbid obesity have probably tried different diets, exercises, or medications without satisfactory results. In these patients, assisted weight-loss treatment may be the only solution to the problem.

Common causes of morbid obesity

Many patients have the perception that morbid obesity is based solely on poor eating habits and not performing physical activity. Although these are risk factors, an in-depth analysis must be carried out to determine the cause of morbid obesity, such as:

• Genetic: There may be a family history of obesity problems. Some studies indicate that there are genes that are present in this disease. For this reason, it is necessary to adopt healthy habits so as not to develop this disease;
• Dietary: In large part, it is thanks to a sedentary lifestyle and a caloric intake of more than 3000 calories per day. If we take into account that a high-calorie diet is mainly framed by fast food. Starting the day without breakfast, eating too much at night, and not practicing physical activity without a doubt the appearance of obesity is imminent;
• Nervous: Generally when the patient is very stressed, going through depression or anxiety, the body tends to release glucose that, if not combated with physical activity, ends up accumulating as abdominal fat;
• Endocrine: Obesity usually develops due to conditions such as hypercorticism or hypothyroidism;
• Medications: consuming medications such as antidepressants or corticosteroids can cause weight gain as a side effect.

How to treat morbid obesity?

Morbid obesity is a chronic disease and therefore should be treated as such. Patients with symptoms of morbid obesity evolve symptoms and are forced to effective and long-term treatment. If multiple diets and exercises fail, surgical and non-surgical procedures need to be considered. Below we will discuss the less invasive, outpatient, and FDA-approved options that have also yielded quite favorable results for patients with this problem. Possible treatments include:

Endoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty – Endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty or OverStitch is a 100% endoscopic procedure, which is performed from inside the stomach and does not require abdominal cuts or incisions. The doctor inserts an endoscope (a camera attached to a flexible tube) through the mouth and into the stomach. The endoscope is equipped with a suture system that allows stitches to be placed in the stomach. The Bariatric Overstitch procedure takes approximately 30 to 45 minutes. After the procedure, the stomach is up to 80% smaller than its initial size, which limits the amount of food eaten and makes the patient feel full. It also limits the number of calories absorbed by the stomach and prolongs the time food stays in the stomach.

Orbera® Gastric Balloon – the gastric balloon system is a bariatric weight loss procedure that uses a balloon made of silicone that occupies an area within the stomach. The patient will have less space available in the stomach and will be forced to adjust to much smaller, healthier portions, ultimately resulting in successful weight loss. With the gastric balloon, patients have been shown to lose up to 3 times more weight than with diet and exercise alone. In addition, the procedure is a weight loss program designed to provide up to 50 pounds less in 6 months.

In order to be successful in the treatment of morbid obesity, the patient must make changes and modifications in their diet, behavior, habits, and exercise routine.

Modifications to the diet of the morbidly obese patient

It is important that in order to modify the diet in a patient with morbid obesity, this modification is made by a team of professionals in the field, such as nutritionists, and the medical team that will be in charge of your treatment. At Innova Weight Loss Solutions we offer medical nutrition therapy. Medical nutrition therapy is a program tailored to each patient that allows them to receive an evaluation, a personalized diet plan, and continuous support so that the loss of weight is successful. When we browse the internet and find thousands of diet options that promise to lose weight almost miraculously, they are actually a risk to your health and even cause irreversible damage to other organs in the body.

The main axis of diet modification is to put the patient on a diet that has a fairly low-calorie load and a maximum of 1,000 calories per day. This is the most difficult task for morbidly obese patients as they are used to eating up to 3,000 calories per day. To obtain weight loss benefits, it is necessary for patients to commit to a minimum treatment of 6 months to obtain great results and for the patient to adapt to new and healthy habits.

Modifications to the behavior of the patient with morbid obesity

The goal of modifying the patient’s behavior is to change and improve eating habits, as well as to implement a physical activity regimen to achieve the goal of losing weight. In this part of the therapy, strategies are used to achieve this goal such as:

• Use apps to keep track of how many calories the patient has eaten and keep a daily record of exercise and eating patterns;
• Establish real expectations of weight loss in the short, medium, and long term;
• Create rewards for achieving weight loss goals or for having extended the exercise routine for a longer time than normal;
• Join social media groups that have the same goal as the patient.

Achieving these modifications and reaching the goal of losing weight is not easy, there are other factors that enter the patient’s life and make it a little more difficult to carry out the diet, which is why the patient must focus on these changes and adapt them to your daily life. In short, to achieve this the patient must be disciplined and constant.

If you would like to learn more about Innova Weight Loss Solutions non-surgical weight loss procedures and morbid obesity treatment in Puerto Rico and New York, or find out what options may be right for you, request an appointment online or call us at 973-963-2728.