Bariatric surgery denotes surgical operations on the stomach to drastically reduce its size and capacity in an attempt reduce body weight in patients who are morbidly obese.

Obesity has become an important medical problem in India now. Over weight is a phenomenon which is on the rise . Childhood obesity seen in affluent classes evetually leads on to adult obesity. It is now not uncommomn to see plump and overweight children in every classroom in convent schools. This phenomenon is due to overeating and eating all the wrong foods. Quite often this is due to parental pressure to eat well and these children are generally force fed.

There are many medical conditions which develop in obese individuals like diabetes, hypertension, osteo-arthritis, breathing problems , sleep apnoea, snoring.

There is no medical treatment for obesity. Diet restriction is the main stay and curtailing the volume of food intake definitely reduces weight. But then to maintain a lower weight for longer times is often difficult. Physical exercise on a daily basis benefits obese patients immensely.

Definitive treatment for morbid obesity is surgery. There are many operations for obesity but the commonest ones are the gastric bypass and sleeve resection of stomach. Effectively these operations reduce the capacity of the stomach drastically thereby curtailing the volume of food intake leading on to reasonable weight loss.

So please get your height and weight checked and you'll know whether you are overweight. If you are obese - then do something about it - today.


Dr.Patta Radhakrishna MS MCh
Con surgical gastroenterologist & Lap surgeon
Apollo Hospitals, Chennai.