SURGICAL MANAGMENT OF OBESITY

Abstract

Obesity is usually defined as presence of an abnormally large amount of adipose tissue (0/efsky, 1994).

Obesity is a condition of multifactorial etiology that can be associated with important health consequences. No single etiology explains all cases, and different causes exist for different individuals (0/efsky, 1994).

There are several laboratory methods for measuring body fat, but none of these is widely available for clinical use. These methods include, underwater weighing, 40K counting, total body water, tobec, computed tomographic scanning, nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, neutron activation analysis and whole body dual photon absorptiometry.

The clinical methods include, weight and height, skin-folds, circumferences (Gray, 1989).

The three approaches to weight control are diet, exercise, and drugs: Diet: The diet must be nutritionally adequate. It is not possible to calculate a diet under 1100 calories that contain adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals (Pi-Sunyer, 1996). Drugs: In weight control drugs have been used as a short-term adjunctive

therapy to diet and exercise. They are drugs that act centrally through brain catecholamine or serotoninergic pathways, thermogenic drugs, drugs affecting GIT, hormones, and regional fat mobilization (Pi-Sunyer, 1996). Exercise: It is the only safe way to increase caloric expenditure (Pi-Sunyer,

1996).