Walking along the streets everyday we come across a number of people. If we analyse properly, every third person we meet is overweight. Obesity is a problem that has been doing the rounds globally for over some time. According to the WHO (World Health Organisation), obesity and overweight over a decade have become a major problem with approximately 1.6 billion overweight teenagers and over 400 million obese adults walking the earth. Obesity and overweight have many negative implications on the health of an individual that could lead to serious conditions such as coronary heart ailment, diabetes, infertility and in some uncontrolled cases can prove fatal.

Since the number of people suffering from obesity has been on the rise, researches for combating this problem have simultaneously picked up pace. There are a number of antibiotics available today that help in overcoming obesity somewhat. The key to this is losing weight. Alongside antibiotics, there are surgeries available today that help in losing weight. An increase in obesity opened our eyes to the importance of weight loss surgeons. These surgeries have proved to be immensely helpful in bringing down the number of obesity patients. Bariatric surgery is one such surgery that has gained popularity worldwide on that score. The surgery involves removing fat by reducing the size of the stomach with the help on an implanted medical device or simply removing a portion of the stomach. Bariatric surgery not only helps in reducing weight but researches have proved that it helps in curing diabetes and keeps at bay other obesity - related diseases. Long term mortality rate seems to be lower for obese patients who have undergone this surgery than most of them who haven't.

As they say, every coin has two sides, to every advantage there is a disadvantage. Complications from these surgeries are pretty frequent. Hyperthyroidism, metabolic bone disease manifesting are some of the complications that can occur post bariatric surgery. As a result, increased risk of fracture has also been linked to bariatric surgery. Weight loss surgeries reduces the amount of food intake. There is also a need for regular exercise post the surgery. But the risks of acquiring any of these complications reduces if the surgery is performed by an experienced surgeon.
All in all if one weighs the pros and cons of a weight loss surgery, it is considerably risk free and worth opting for. The number of professionals opting for a career as a weight loss surgeon has been increasing as rapidly as obesity itself has. But as someone has rightly said €precaution is better than cure' the emphasis should be on avoiding obesity by eating healthy and staying fit rather than facing the repercussions later.